Veteran Chinese scientist takes an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ journey deep under the South China Sea
Eighty two-year-old marine expert uses ‘Deepwater Warrior’ submersible to explore previously uncharted area of the disputed South China Sea
An 82-year-old Chinese scientist dived more than 1,400 metres beneath the waves in a disputed part of the South China Sea on an unprecedented research mission that he compared to Alice’s adventures in Wonderland.
Wang Pingxian, a senior marine geologist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, boarded Deepwater Warrior, China’s newest vessel for deep sea exploration, and spent more than eight hours on an uncharted seabed near the Paracel Islands, known as Xisha in China, on Sunday.
The mission reinforced the belief that there are valuable natural reserves in the area, with evidence suggesting there are large reserves of liquefied natural gas on the seabed, some of which was seen seeping through the cracks and rising from the sea floor.
Wang, along with another younger scientist and pilot, recorded a rich range of marine life in the area, including thriving colonies of giant worms, mussels, sponge and coral reefs that feed off a steady supply of nutrition around the cold springs.
“This journey was just like Alice in Wonderland. I was in heaven,” he told Xinhua after returning to the surface.
Given Wang’s age the expedition needed careful planning to ensure it could be carried out safely.