I’m still new to GoPro footage. After watching the GoPro channel on Virgin America and Earth to Echo, though, I know that it’s awesome to see the world from the perspective of the little cameras. So, as a GoPro n00b, I am even more impressed by the array of 360˚ footage being taken by GoPro aficionados. And this video documenting the research of oceanographer, documentary filmmaker, and grandson of the famous Jaques Cousteau, Fabien Cousteau, is completely amazing to me.
Cousteau, along with a team of scientists, documentarians, and activists spent a record 31 days living 63 feet below water to study marine life and the effects of pollution and climate change in the Atlantic Ocean. Immersed in the team was TIME Magazine‘s Jonathan Woods, who used scuba gear from 360 Heros, made with a specially designed, 3D printed camera mount for 6 GoPro cameras, to create an interactive 360˚ tour of the group’s aquatic research facility, Aquarius. Unfortunately, I can’t embed the TIME video below, but here is a time lapse video of the mission’s surrounding ecosystem:
From the tour and Woods’s accompanying text, you learn that Aquarius was built in the 80s and, with the past thirty years underwater, it certainly looks like it. Surprisingly, Aquarius has some modern upgrades, such as wi-fi and a 24/7 live stream. You also learn that the 31 day duration of the mission is both an homage to Cousteau’s grandfather, who spent 30 days below the Red Sea, and a means of collecting vital data. Without the hassle of traveling to and from land, the mission‘s scientists were able to capture two years worth of data.
Woods’s entire report is captivating and the interactive video is enough to head over to TIME’s coverage of the facility, so I seriously recommend doing so when you get the chance.
