• Defeating the deepest recorded depths of Orcas and Dolphins, comes Ahmed Gabr. Gabr holds a Guinness World Record for the deepest scuba diving in history.
• The most iconic shipwreck in history, the 'unsinkable' Titanic, can be found at 3800 meters (12467 feet) deep.
Image: TWITTER
The operation to recover two bodies after a vehicle plunged into the Indian Ocean last Sunday has failed to yield results despite concerted efforts by the government and other agencies.
Mariam Kighenda and her four-year-old daughter, Amanda Mutheu died after their car reversed from a ferry and plunged into the Indian Ocean.
They were coming from a shamba trip in Kwale.
The recovery exercise started early in the day on Monday, led by the team comprising of officials from the Kenya Navy, KPA, Kenya Fisheries Research Institute,Sonko rescue team and Private Contracted Divers.
At exactly 10.40am a team of contracted divers were armed with their diving tanks, buoyancy control devices, weight belts, regulators, face mask, snorkels, fins, wetsuits and ropes with deadweights.
Image: ANDREW KASUKU
They set out to sea in hopes of success but knowing 'success' would mean finding the car and the victims.
But fate decreed otherwise.
The sunken car was identified to be 173 meters deep on Tuesday paralyzing operations at the Likoni Ferry to give ample time to retrieve it.
Swedish scuba diver Volker Bassen on Friday evening dashed the hopes of the family of 35-year-old Mariam Kighenda after failing to locate and retrieve her body and that of her 4-year-old daughter, Amanda Mutheu from the Indian Ocean.
Kighenda’s family had high hopes that the search for the remains of their loved ones would come to an end after Bassen on Thursday said he could locate and retrieve them in two hours.
AU High Representative on Infrastructure Raila Odinga on Saturday ordered the dredging exercise at the Indian Ocean stopped.
He said the exercise is interfering with efforts to recover the two bodies.
A week later, the search operations are still ongoing.
Why is the process of recovering the bodies from the Indian Ocean becoming a herculean puzzle to unravel?
How deep can any creature dive or live underwater?
Below are the deepest dive records any man (from divers to explorers), and animals (from birds to fishes) has made in history.
40 Metres Deep
Pearl divers dive at 40 metres deep to collect pearls from oysters, mussels, and other mollusks from the bottoms of oceans, lakes, and rivers.
They dive for up to two minutes on a single breath.
Before the 20th century, pearl divers had to manually obtain a large number of pearl oysters or mussels from the ocean floor, lakes, or river bottoms.
Image: COURTESY
The lack of technology to aid the divers while diving down at such depths exposed them to unpredictable dangers, like shark attacks.
In Asia, pearl divers cover their bodies with grease to conserve heat, cover their ears with greased cotton, and use a tortoise-shell clip to close their nose.
Pearl diving still exists today in countries like the Philippines and Japan. Ama divers, female Japanese divers, now dive primarily for the tourist industry.
210 Metres Deep
At more than 100 meters, Thick-Billed Murres go hunting for fishes, squids, and crustaceans.
These arctic birds adapt better to diving in the coldest water of the Northern Hemisphere than to flying.
As they land on water, they stay afloat like ducks before diving down for a meal. One bird was recorded to have dived at 210 meters (688 feet), setting the deepest dive record for Thick-Billed Murres.
253.2 Metres Deep
Known as the deepest man on Earth, Herbert Nitsch is the current freediving world record champion with a world record dive in 2012 at 253.2 meters (831 feet).
At the cost of this achievement though, he contracted extreme decompression sickness on his ascent and had to undergo months of rehabilitation.
Austrian Herbert Nitsch is the current freediving world record holder and is a.k.a. "the deepest man on earth." Watch and see what happens when you push yourself to the limit and Climb On.
Decompression sickness, also known as the bends, is a condition caused by a rapid decrease of pressure in air or water, resulting in the formation of nitrogen bubbles in the body's tissues.
This condition is more common to scuba divers and may cause pain in the muscles and joints, cramping, nausea and paralysis. Months after recovery, Nitsch is back on the water again. Nothing can stop Nitsch from doing what he loves- freediving.
274 Metres Deep
One of the most extreme diving mammals is the killer whale. Also known as Orcas, killer whales are not whales but are actually in the dolphins' branch.
Image: REUTERS/Mike Blake
These marine mammals feed on sea lions and walruses, but also dive down at an average of 100 meters for more food. The deepest dive record for an Orca is 274 meters (900 feet).
300 Metres Deep
Next on the list is another species of dolphin. Bottlenose Dolphins are not known to be deep divers. Because they only feed on fish, squids, shrimps, mollusks, and cuttlefish, they stay on shallow waters when hunting. The deepest dive for their kind, however, is at 300 meters (990 feet) by Tuffy, a dolphin trained by the US Navy. These smart and friendly creatures mostly stay and travel near the surface where they can come up for air.
332.35 Metres Deep
Defeating the deepest recorded depths of Orcas and Dolphins, comes Ahmed Gabr. Gabr holds a Guinness World Record for the deepest scuba diving in history.
It took approximately 12 minutes for Ahmed to reach his record depth of 332.35 meters (1,090 feet) down the Red Sea in Egypt and nearly 15 hours to go back to the surface. Ahmed's dive broke the previous mark of 318.25 meters (1,044 feet) by Nuno Gomes back in 2005.
535 Metres Deep
Most birds are magnificent in flight, but the Emperor Penguins can't relate to that. These flightless birds are the best at swimming. Emperor Penguins, the largest of all the penguins, can dive down to 535 meters (1,755 feet).
Their structured haemoglobin (iron and oxygen-binding protein found in the blood that transports oxygen) allow them to function at low oxygen levels.
Image: REUTERS/Martin Passingham
Their solid bones reduce their chances of decompression sickness, and their ability to lower their metabolism and shut-down non-essential organs allow them to dive up to 18 minutes. Emperor Penguins are also experts in surviving the harshest winter in Antarctica.
600 Metres Deep
Another local from Antarctica, the Weddel Seals, can dive up to 600 meters (1,968 feet) to breed, hunt and live most of their lives underwater.
The seals can remain submerged for an hour because of the myoglobin (iron and oxygen-binding protein found in the muscle tissue that stores oxygen) present in their bodies. Their diet consists of fish, bottom-feeding prawns, crustaceans, and cephalopods. Weddel Seals only come up and out of ice holes to take oxygen, feed their young, or take a rest.
647 Metres Deep
Whales, the biggest of the marine animals, are conquerors of the deep. Beluga whales can dive at depths between 400 meters (1, 312 feet) and 647 meters (2,122 feet) below sea level, but wild Beluga whales can even go further.
Beluga whales are smart and sociable like dolphins. Adult Belugas are pale white, and males can grow up to 5.5 meters (18 feet). Beluga Whales are residents to cold waters of the Arctic. Belugas use their large, melon-like head for echolocation and are the only whales that can bend their necks to look around without having to move their body.
1,000 Metres Deep
Known as the Cheetas of the Deep Sea, Pilot whales can dive up to 1000 meters(3,280 feet) to hunt for large squids. Pilot whales are actually dolphins and are the largest members of the dolphin family.
They travel in pods with a leader or a pilot, hence their name Pilot Whales. They are closely larger like the killer whales or Orcas.
Pilot Whales have two species, the long-finned pilot whales, and the short-finned pilot whales. Both belong to the same category but are very much different. Long-finned pilot whales prefer colder waters and are more populous than short-finned whales. Short-finned whales prefer warmer waters like the Indian, Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean.
2,388 Metres Deep
Elephant Seal species can hold their breath for more than 100 minutes which is truly impressive. The deepest depth record for Elephant Seals is 2388 meters (7,835 feet), done by a Southern Elephant Seal.
Image: REUTERS/Chris Oosthuizen/IMOS
They dive for one reason only, food. Their diet consists of deep-dwelling animals such as rays, skates, octopus, large fish, and squid. They can dive at such depths because their body holds a high volume of blood and an increased amount of myoglobin (protein that stores oxygen).
These allow them to store more oxygen in their body and muscles. Elephant seals also have thick blubbers to protect them from cold temperatures at such depths.
2,992 Metres Deep
At this depth, little light can penetrate the water (although for human eyes it's totally pitch black), and the pressure is immensely extreme, but that is nothing for the world's deepest diving mammal: The Cuvier's Beaked Whale.
These marine mammals can hunt and withstand crushing pressure and heavy darkness at 2000 meters (6,562 feet) below the surface. Their deepest dive record is 2992 meters (9,816 feet) for 2 hours and 17 minutes, which makes them the deepest and longest marine divers in the world. Like Sperm Whales, Cuvier Beaked whales dive at such depths for squid and deep-sea fish.
Image: Todd Pusser / NPL
They can store oxygen in their blood and muscles and have high levels of myoglobin and hemoglobin, proteins that store oxygen in the blood and muscles. This also gives their blood and muscles a deep crimson red colour, almost appearing black. Cuvier's Beaked Whales can fold down their rib cages to decrease buoyancy and reduce air pockets while diving.
2,250 Metres Deep
The largest toothed predators in the world, the Sperm Whales, have the deepest recorded dive of 2250 meters (7,380 feet) which makes them the second deepest diving marine mammal.
Image: TONY WU
Sperm Whales are the largest known toothed whales in the ocean. Sperm whales contain an enormous amount of myoglobin (the protein that stores oxygen in the muscle tissues) and haemoglobin (the protein that carries oxygen within the red blood cells) that enables them to partake in deep dives. Sperm whales also have flexible ribcages to allow them to collapse their lungs and reduce the absorption of nitrogen.
3,800 Metres Deep
The most iconic shipwreck in history, the 'unsinkable' Titanic, can be found at 3800 meters (12467 feet) deep. Dr. Robert Ballard discovered the Titanic's remains as the result of a top-secret military mission for two wrecked nuclear submarines. The discovery led to more expeditions to investigate the wreck and what's left of it.
Despite the high pressure and cold temperature of the water and deterioration of the ship, a total of 28 species were found. These species include sea anemones, crabs, starfish, shrimp and rattail fish up to one meter (3 feet) long.
Explorers have found a previously unknown type of sea cucumber and a newly discovered species of a rust-eating bacterium named, Halomonas titanicae. This bacteria is found all over the wreck and is the cause of the rapid decay of the ship. Several plans and proposals have been raised to attempt retrieving the whole shipwreck, or what's left of it, back to the surface.
8,076 Metres Deep
Just when most believe that all species of fish cease to exist at the deep depths of the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the ocean, a species of snailfish was recently discovered living in the dark.
The pressure at this depth would be like an elephant standing on your thumb, but that is nothing to the Mariana Snailfish or the Pseudoliparis swirei, which lives at the range of 6198 to 8076 meters (20,335 – 26,496 feet) below the surface.
These pale, tadpole-like fishes feed on shrimp, deep-dwelling crustaceans, and other invertebrate animals. At this depth and harsh environment, the Mariana Snailfishes are the top predators. Not much is known of the fish due to its fragility when brought to the surface and the costs of diving down at such depths. Although it is extreme for us, the Mariana Snailfish are happy to be living under such conditions.