This man lived underwater for 120 days – and broke a world record

This man lived in an underwater cabin for 120 days and broke a world record in the process.

German aerospace engineer, Rudiger Koch, spent four months in the 320-square-foot space, which is located off the coast of Panama.

For many people, this would sound isolating and perhaps terrifying.

But as Koch explained to Supercar Blondie, this adventure was an extremely rewarding experience.

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How this man managed to live underwater for 120 days

The underwater capsule – called the SeaPod Alpha Deep – is a remarkable space.

The 59-year-old kindly granted Supercar Blondie a virtual tour of the underwater compartment, which is filled with windows looking out into the Caribbean Sea.

As the capsule was 11 meters under the surface, fish swam by regularly, and some even stared inside.

This was part of the fun for Koch.

He said: “This is a very unique observation point.

“You can see pelagic fish, they are silvery in color and they usually swim with their tail fin.”

Pelagic fish are those that live in the pelagic zone of oceans or lakes – neither too close to the bottom nor too near to the shore.

For Koch, the best time to look out at the waters came at nightfall.

He recalled: “It’s a beautiful place down here. You know, if you sit here at night, you turn off all the lights, you can still watch the drama unfold out there.

“The sea glows underwater. You can see the tail of the fish as they swim by.”

When not fish-watching, Koch made use of an exercise bike, a TV, and a computer, which had all been fitted into his surroundings.

There are even digital clocks on the wall that count the 120 days and thousands of hours spent living in the compartment.

Things didn’t get lonely as he frequently had visitors, including his daughter who would fly in from Switzerland.

Upon breaking the world record for time spent underwater without depressurization, Koch celebrated with a cigar and champagne.

And a dip in the sea that he’d spent months looking out into.

World records are always something to celebrate, regardless of whether they happen out on the open waters or in the comments section of an Instagram post.

What does this mean for the future of housing?

Besides the flex of having a Guinness World Record, this project signified something bigger – the potential for humans to live underwater someday.

Seapod Alpha Deep is the creation of Ocean Builders, a company looking to push a ‘breakthrough in the future of ocean living’.

Koch explained: “The hope is that we live on the water.

“The reason for that is, next to the beauty of it, it is much more sustainable.

“I prefer [living on the water]. For me, I don’t need a traffic jam and the smell of the city.

“To me, being in boats is much more appealing than having a fast car in a traffic jam.

“A jet ski the means of transportation for me. It has a trunk so you can put your groceries in.”

Some people just take to the water exceptionally well, like this man who picked up a cheap boat from Alibaba for $3,000 and is still using it.

Ocean Builders wants to open up the waters to humanity in a way that hasn’t been done before.

On their website, it said: “Our technology will allow civilization to move onto the sea and it will unlock the ocean as a new frontier with a quality of life that is unbeatable anywhere else.

“We believe that by learning to live on the water we will open a new wave of eco-sustainable innovation that will lead to living more sustainably on land.”

For all we know, 120 days underwater could look like a very short stint in the future and we have so much more of the deep ocean to explore.