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We have probably explored just as much of our oceans as we have outer space, and they remain almost otherworldly.

But while we are putting a lot of effort and money into finding ways to live in the cosmos, our oceans are rising and our existence as gill-less creatures is under threat.

We could just do what Elon Musk is gunning for and leave to live in space, but perhaps it is worthwhile thinking about how we can adapt and let the waves wash over us, too.

If My Octopus Teacher taught us anything, it’s that the ocean makes for a beautiful home, but could we actually live there?

Gizmodo has a weekly question for the experts, and this week it was about whether underwater living might ever be possible.

The challenges of creating a sustainable living situation in space are overwhelming, but just because the sea is closer and more accessible, doesn’t mean it is any easier to habituate.

Let’s hand it over to four experts who have weighed in and shared their knowledge about what it would be like to live underwater:

Gene C. Feldman – an oceanographer at the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center:

This can be broken down into three parts—technical, motivational, and financial.

The answer to whether we can technically live under the sea is a definite YES, and in fact, Jacques Cousteau and a team of fellow aquanauts lived undersea in Conshelf I, II and III in the early 1960s.

…All these habitats [underwater] and the few current long-duration ones require extensive and continuous support from surface ships, barges, or land-based umbilical systems…

However, the motivation and the significant funding that they would require have never materialised.

In contrast, the current International Space Station has cost more than $100 billion dollars to build, and NASA spends $3 billion to $4 billion dollars per year to operate a facility that can support just six astronauts.

He reminds us that the challenges of living underwater can be rather frightening:

Like outer space, the undersea world is an alien place for humans to live. Surprisingly, journeying into the depths of the oceans is in many ways even more challenging than voyaging into space, because of the tremendous pressures that are found as you descend into the ocean.

At sea level, the air that surrounds us presses down on our bodies at 14,7 pounds per square inch, also known as one atmosphere. The deeper in the ocean you go, the greater the pressure that you feel.

At the ocean’s deepest point, the Mariana Trench, the pressure is equivalent to one person trying to support 50 jumbo jets.

Phil Pauley – a British designer and futurist known for his work on underwater habitats:

I absolutely feel it’s the way forward, especially given our current situation. And if we put money into it, it’s absolutely possible.

You’d need regular supplies of food, air for life support systems, water, etc. But the key goal for any sort of human habitation in an alien environment is self-sustainability…

From my perspective, the only thing that can or will survive a future meteor strike, nuclear war, or even-more-lethal global pandemic would be a self-sustainable underwater environment which is protected from any of those outside forces.

Fabien Cousteau (pictured above) – an aquanaut, ocean conservationist, and documentary filmmaker:

It takes a lot of mental toughness and training to live underwater. It is not for everyone. In fact, astronauts train and live underwater before going to space.

Many frequent the underwater habitat Aquarius in Florida; in 2014, I spent 31 days there, as part of Mission 31, leading a team of six aquanauts.

Image: FABIEN COUSTEAU OCEAN LEARNING CENTER

Today I’m creating Proteus [an artist’s rendition above] —essentially the ISS of the Sea—with my team. It will be for a selection of visitors in the coming years and will allow us to progress our knowledge of not only life underwater, but also on land.

Susanne Menden-Deuer – a professor in oceanography at the University of Rhode Island:

Living underwater sounds like an exciting adventure, though it may be a disconcerting idea if done in a way that harms underwater habitats.

Whatever the size or nature of this habitation, I would hope we would approach it with a thoughtful, international agreement to sustainably create and manage these habitats.

Nobody mentioned much about the impact that a human city under the sea would have on the environment, and although I also hope that any undersea living space will keep sustainability in mind, I worry about everything from the whales to the plankton.

For that reason, I vote Mars, because there’s only so much we can destroy on that barren red planet.

[source:gizmodo]