Ian Somerhalder Goes on a Sub Adventure | Years of Living Dangerously

[Music] I'm aboard this amazing research and filming ship called the Aluia. It's equipped with two deep diving submersibles. There's one behind me, the Triton, and behind that is the Deep Rover, a two-man submarine. Both subs are rated for 1000 meters. We probably do the most 1000 meter diving in the world. We were filming from two submersibles at a time, and it is amazing. Uh, but it's a challenge.

We are just about to enter the rim of the Blue Hole now. The Blue Hole is basically a cave that forms in a carbonate platform or limestone when sea level was lower. The rainwater was slightly acidic, and it actually dissolves that limestone, forming this cave. You've got to coordinate on the bottom at depth—two submersibles—and I'm filming our scientist and our host. Visibility at a generous 10 meters is both lights on and lights off.

Right now, we're in the Aluia's mission control room. This is where they communicate with the subs. “Okay, when you're happy, Paul would like to try the conversation shot stationary.” We spent a lot of time coordinating shots of the sub passing overhead and underneath and going along the ridge. I'm just, uh, trying to give the camera more of a stab.

The three-man sub with our cast had to come up three times and change members. That was incredible! My submarine, the two-man submarine, we stayed down the whole time, so we stayed down six hours on the bottom. The six hours went fast, but you're also curled up in a little small space, and so by the end of six hours you realize, “I really need to stretch my legs!” Really, really good. Yeah, really good. That's the longest I've ever been on.

Apparently, on that day, we were the first subs or two subs to go to the bottom of a Blue Hole in the Bahamas. So, it's pretty cool!