New record for living under water - 9th December 2024

Most people can't imagine living under water. But German engineer Rüdiger Koch's trying to break the current Guinness World Record of 100 days. Koch is hoping to remain there for 120-150 days. His accommodation is an underwater room, 11 metres down. He's in a "SeaPod", near the coast of Panama.

Koch and his team hope to show it's really possible.

Rüdiger Koch: "So, what we are trying to do here is proving that the seas are actually a viable environment for, erm, human expansion. So, push the frontier."

The room where Koch is staying is environmentally-friendly. It's a place which fish and other creatures can live on. Meanwhile, Koch's team is based in a larger, round pod above water. Koch's company, Ocean Builders, created it all. They hope to get people thinking about living underwater, a sustainable way to live. In future, it could be a human habitat.

Rüdiger Koch: "Moving out that that the, to the ocean is is is something we should do as a species. So there should be many people living out in the ocean, not just myself and a few others. So, umm, that would be actually a contribution to restore things like reefs."

Koch has to stay under water continually to break the record, and all his activities are checked. He'd love to get into the sea and dive, so his team are working on creating a special window.

Meanwhile, Koch has some time left in his underwater room. He's been there since 26th September and will only come out on 24th January 2025.