The Diving Almanac & Book of Records

First published in 2007, the Diving Almanac celebrates the achievements of a unique group of people that share a passion for underwater adventure and discovery. Ten years later, the Diving Almanac has become the world’s only central body of information for diving records, personalities and history, and it is 100% FREE.

COUSTEAU, Jacques-Yves

By Jeffrey Gallant

Diving pioneer, visionary, and inventor; world-famous underwater explorer and advocate for the environment; prolific author and film [...]

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Who's Who

HOYOS PADILLA, Edgar Mauricio, Ph.D.

By Jeffrey Gallant

Shark researcher; co-founder and Director of Pelagios-Kakunjá A.C., a nonprofit organization that focuses on sharks and other open-water species [...]

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Largest white shark filmed underwater

By Jeffrey Gallant

6 m (20 ft) — In August 2015, biologist Mauricio Hoyos Padilla described what may be the largest white shark ever filmed. Based on the size of his boat [...]

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Most jellyfish [Lake]

By Jeffrey Gallant

Palau’s Jellyfish Lake (Palauan: Ongeim’l Tketau, i.e. Fifth Lake) contains an estimated 10 million golden mastigia jellyfish (Mastigia sp.), a landlocked species which evolved [...]

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Diving History

Commeinhes develops open-circuit scuba

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 1937 ] The first model of a two-cylinder open-circuit breathing apparatus with demand regulator is developed by Georges Commeinhes for [...]

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First Aqua-Lung dive

By Jeffrey Gallant

January 1943 — Jacques-Yves Cousteau tested the first Cousteau-Gagnan open-circuit scuba unit in the cold Marne River near Paris. The single-stage regulator worked [...]

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Deepest submersible dive [Ocean]

By Jeffrey Gallant

10,928 m (35,853 ft) — Victor Vescovo aboard the Limiting Factor (Triton 36000/2 model submersible) | April 28, 2019 | Challenger Deep [...]

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First underwater photo

By Jeffrey Gallant

1856 — William Thompson (UK) took the world’s first underwater photo in the Bay of Weymouth. The camera inside a housing made of wood and iron was mounted on a tripod that was [...]

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Deepest saturation dive [Openwater]

By Jeffrey Gallant

534 m (1,752 ft) — COMEX Hydra 8, Hyperbaric Experimental Centre, Marseille, France, 1988. Breathing a gas mixture of hydro-heliox, it [...]

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Deepest shipwreck ever found

By Jeffrey Gallant

6,220 m (20,406 ft) — USS Johnston (DD-557), Philippine Sea. On October 30, 2019, Paul Allen's Vulcan Inc. announced the discovery of the deepest [...]

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Longest stay in an underwater habitat [Europe]

By Jeffrey Gallant

36 days | Lacustris Programme (Romania) — Aquanauts Liviu Miron & Constantin Mihai set the European record of 36 days [...]

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Longest underwater human chain [Women]

By Jeffrey Gallant

107 — The group of women led by Divetech Grand Cayman, was linked in a human chain off Lighthouse Point to celebrate Women's Dive Day on July 20 [...]

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Deepest submersible dive [Solo | Men]

By Jeffrey Gallant

10,928 m (35,853 ft) — Victor Vescovo aboard the Limiting Factor (Triton 36000/2 model submersible) | April 28, 2019 | Challenger Deep [...]

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Oldest diver (Men)

By Jeffrey Gallant

99 — William Lambert (USA) celebrated his 99th anniversary with a birthday dive in Pearl Lake, Illinois, on September 5, 2019. He remained at the depth of 9.7 m (32 ft) for 20 minutes [...]

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World’s deepest fish?

By Jeffrey Gallant

Depending on where you get your information, the Mariana snailfish, a.k.a. Swire's snailfish, is not the world's deepest fish nor is there a depth limit beyond which fish can live [...]

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First archaeological excavation on scuba

By Jeffrey Gallant

1948 — Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Frédéric Dumas, Philippe Tailliez, Jean Alinat and five other divers excavated a Roman galley off Mahdia, Tunisia, while [...]

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DUMAS, Frédéric

By Jeffrey Gallant

Pioneer of diving and underwater exploration; cinematographer; scientist; one of the Mousquemers along with Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Philippe Tailliez; Chief Diver [...]

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TAILLIEZ, Philippe, Capt.

By Jeffrey Gallant

Diving pioneer; author; introduced Jacques-Yves Cousteau to the sport of goggle fishing in 1936; one of the Mousquemers along with Jacques-Yves Cousteau and [...]

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Who's Who

COUSTEAU, Pierre-Yves

By Jeffrey Gallant

CEO and Founder of Cousteau Divers, whose mission is to bring the legacy of Jacques-Yves Cousteau to life, making each diver an agent of the study and conservation of the aquatic [...]

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Who's Who

HASSON, Wayne

By Jeffrey Gallant

President of Aggressor Fleet and Dancer Fleet; co-founder of Aggressor Fleet with wife Anne in 1984; captained the first Cayman Aggressor; helped install the first 112 permanent [...]

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The records chapter showcases over 650 underwater feats and firsts by humans, machines and animals. If you are looking for the world’s deepest scuba diver, freediver, fish or submersible, they’re all here. The 16 categories include scuba diving, freediving, submersibles, oceanography, biology, and underwater art.

Largest white shark filmed underwater

By Jeffrey Gallant

6 m (20 ft) — In August 2015, biologist Mauricio Hoyos Padilla described what may be the largest white shark ever filmed. Based on the size of his boat [...]

Most jellyfish [Lake]

By Jeffrey Gallant

Palau’s Jellyfish Lake (Palauan: Ongeim’l Tketau, i.e. Fifth Lake) contains an estimated 10 million golden mastigia jellyfish (Mastigia sp.), a landlocked species which evolved [...]

First Aqua-Lung dive

By Jeffrey Gallant

January 1943 — Jacques-Yves Cousteau tested the first Cousteau-Gagnan open-circuit scuba unit in the cold Marne River near Paris. The single-stage regulator worked [...]

Deepest submersible dive [Ocean]

By Jeffrey Gallant

10,928 m (35,853 ft) — Victor Vescovo aboard the Limiting Factor (Triton 36000/2 model submersible) | April 28, 2019 | Challenger Deep [...]

First underwater photo

By Jeffrey Gallant

1856 — William Thompson (UK) took the world’s first underwater photo in the Bay of Weymouth. The camera inside a housing made of wood and iron was mounted on a tripod that was [...]

Deepest saturation dive [Openwater]

By Jeffrey Gallant

534 m (1,752 ft) — COMEX Hydra 8, Hyperbaric Experimental Centre, Marseille, France, 1988. Breathing a gas mixture of hydro-heliox, it [...]

Deepest shipwreck ever found

By Jeffrey Gallant

6,220 m (20,406 ft) — USS Johnston (DD-557), Philippine Sea. On October 30, 2019, Paul Allen's Vulcan Inc. announced the discovery of the deepest [...]

Longest stay in an underwater habitat [Europe]

By Jeffrey Gallant

36 days | Lacustris Programme (Romania) — Aquanauts Liviu Miron & Constantin Mihai set the European record of 36 days [...]

Longest underwater human chain [Women]

By Jeffrey Gallant

107 — The group of women led by Divetech Grand Cayman, was linked in a human chain off Lighthouse Point to celebrate Women's Dive Day on July 20 [...]

Deepest submersible dive [Solo | Men]

By Jeffrey Gallant

10,928 m (35,853 ft) — Victor Vescovo aboard the Limiting Factor (Triton 36000/2 model submersible) | April 28, 2019 | Challenger Deep [...]

Oldest diver (Men)

By Jeffrey Gallant

99 — William Lambert (USA) celebrated his 99th anniversary with a birthday dive in Pearl Lake, Illinois, on September 5, 2019. He remained at the depth of 9.7 m (32 ft) for 20 minutes [...]

World’s deepest fish?

By Jeffrey Gallant

Depending on where you get your information, the Mariana snailfish, a.k.a. Swire's snailfish, is not the world's deepest fish nor is there a depth limit beyond which fish can live [...]

First archaeological excavation on scuba

By Jeffrey Gallant

1948 — Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Frédéric Dumas, Philippe Tailliez, Jean Alinat and five other divers excavated a Roman galley off Mahdia, Tunisia, while [...]

Highest plunge dive by bird

By Jeffrey Gallant

40 m (130 ft) — The northern gannet (Sula bassana) plunge dives from heights up to 40 m (130 ft) to capture fish. It then uses its wings and feet to [...]

First dive with a coelacanth

By Jeffrey Gallant

2000 — Pieter Venter, Peter Timm, and Etienne le Roux, encounter a coelacanth in Sodwana Bay (South Africa) at a depth of 104 m (340 ft) [...]

First scuba diving club

By Jeffrey Gallant

1935 — The club named Club des scaphandres et de la vie sous l'eau, a.k.a. Les Sous l’eau, (scuba diving and life underwater club, a.k.a. the underwater people), was founded [...]

Most active submersible in service

By Jeffrey Gallant

Human Occupied Vehicle (HOV) Alvin (a.k.a. DSV-2) — Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). On November 25, 2018, Alvin had [...]

Largest underwater clean-up

By Jeffrey Gallant

633 divers — The event organized by Dixie Divers took place off the Deerfield Beach International Fishing Pier on June 15, 2019. Divers recovered [...]

The Diving Almanac features more than 650 celebrities or locally-known champions from all parts of the world. Discover long-forgotten pioneers and current day explorers and inventors in our industry-exclusive Who’s Who.

COUSTEAU, Jacques-Yves

By Jeffrey Gallant

Diving pioneer, visionary, and inventor; world-famous underwater explorer and advocate for the environment; prolific author and film [...]

Who's Who

HOYOS PADILLA, Edgar Mauricio, Ph.D.

By Jeffrey Gallant

Shark researcher; co-founder and Director of Pelagios-Kakunjá A.C., a nonprofit organization that focuses on sharks and other open-water species [...]

DUMAS, Frédéric

By Jeffrey Gallant

Pioneer of diving and underwater exploration; cinematographer; scientist; one of the Mousquemers along with Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Philippe Tailliez; Chief Diver [...]

TAILLIEZ, Philippe, Capt.

By Jeffrey Gallant

Diving pioneer; author; introduced Jacques-Yves Cousteau to the sport of goggle fishing in 1936; one of the Mousquemers along with Jacques-Yves Cousteau and [...]

Who's Who

COUSTEAU, Pierre-Yves

By Jeffrey Gallant

CEO and Founder of Cousteau Divers, whose mission is to bring the legacy of Jacques-Yves Cousteau to life, making each diver an agent of the study and conservation of the aquatic [...]

Who's Who

HASSON, Wayne

By Jeffrey Gallant

President of Aggressor Fleet and Dancer Fleet; co-founder of Aggressor Fleet with wife Anne in 1984; captained the first Cayman Aggressor; helped install the first 112 permanent [...]

Who's Who

HASSON, Anne Davis

By Jeffrey Gallant

Entrepreneur; conservationist; wildlife photographer; Vice-President of Reservations, Advertising and Marketing for Aggressor Adventures; co-founder and a member of [...]

Who's Who

BEAUDRY, Philippe

By Jeffrey Gallant

Pioneer wreck diver; public speaker; salvaged approximately 500 objects from the RMS Empress of Ireland over the course of 600 dives starting in 1970; founded the Empress [...]

Who's Who

GILLIAM, Bret

By Jeffrey Gallant

Founder of SDI/TDI, DiveSafe Insurance and Ocean Tech; author of over 800 articles and dozens of books; former editor of Scuba Times Advanced Diving Journal, former [...]

EGSTROM, Glen, Ph.D.

By Jeffrey Gallant

Writer and author on the subject of aquatic sports and scuba diving safety; UCLA Diving Officer from 1964 to 1992; ran a recreational and scientific scuba diving training program at [...]

Who's Who

GRUBER, Samuel H., Ph.D.

By Jeffrey Gallant

Shark researcher specializing in anatomy, behaviour, habitat selection, homing behaviour, sensory systems, tracking, and shark repellents; worked [...]

Who's Who

LONG, Dick

By Jeffrey Gallant

Founder of Diving Unlimited International (DUI); diving instructor (1960, NAUI #49); diving contractor in San Diego (1965-72); developed procedures and equipment for [...]

Who's Who

LABAN, André

By Jeffrey Gallant

Underwater photographer; filmmaker; world’s first underwater painter; musician; longtime crewmember and diver of the Cousteau Society; chemical engineer; co-designer and [...]

Who's Who

MCDANIEL, Neil

By Jeffrey Gallant

Marine naturalist; writer; photographer; cinematographer (IMAX); Associate Producer of The Blue Realm; author of Sea Stars of the Pacific Northwest; former Editor of Diver [...]

Who's Who

COSGROVE, Jim

By Jeffrey Gallant

Marine biologist and expert on the Pacific giant octopus; former Manager of the Natural History Section at the Royal British Columbia Museum; public speaker, underwater [...]

WATSON, Neal

By Jeffrey Gallant

Pioneer of dive resort franchising; President of the Bahamas Diving Association; commercial diver; dive instructor; treasure salver; underwater stuntman; holds the world record for the longest [...]

CALYPSO, The

By Jeffrey Gallant

BYMS-1 Class Motor Minesweeper: laid down 12 August 1941 as BYMS-26 by the Ballard Marine Railway Co., Inc., Seattle, WA; completed and transfered to Great Britain [...]

WATERMAN, Stan

By Jeffrey Gallant

Pioneer underwater filmmaker and photographer; owned and operated a dive charter business in the Bahamas (1954-1958); co-producer and cameraman for Blue Water White Death [...]

From the deepest dives to the most dangerous sea creatures, our feature posts showcase outstanding diving facts and trivia, hand-picked from our Diving Records, Diving History, and Who’s Who. Nothing here is fake or clickbait!

Underwater artists every scuba diver should know

Feature

By Jeffrey Gallant

From true to life nature scenes to the surreal, these amazing underwater artists will make you dream of diving [...]

Underwater legends every scuba diver should know

Feature

By Jeffrey Gallant

These legendary figures left such a mark in their respective fields that they would change the world of diving forever [...]

Outstanding women every scuba diver should know

Feature

By Jeffrey Gallant

These trailblazing underwater women have inspired so many divers to follow their passion and make a difference [...]

Our Timeline of Man Underwater, which chronicles over 6,000 years of exploration and innovation, is the most thorough history of diving available online.

Diving History

Commeinhes develops open-circuit scuba

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 1937 ] The first model of a two-cylinder open-circuit breathing apparatus with demand regulator is developed by Georges Commeinhes for [...]

Diving History

Divers rescue 12 boys and coach from flooded Thai cave

By Jeffrey Gallant

[2018] On July 2, cave divers Rick Stanton and John Volanthen locate all 12 members of a youth football team and their coach [...]

Diving History

Archaeologists find HMS Terror

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 2016 ] On September 18, 2016, Parks Canada confirms that the wreck discovered by the Arctic Research Foundation is HMS Terror. The archaeological [...]

Diving History

Discovery of HMS Erebus

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 2014 ] On September 7, Parks Canada archeologists from the 2014 Victoria Strait Expedition discover the wreck of one of the ships from the ill-fated [...]

Diving History

Leonardo Da Vinci designs a diving suit

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ CIRCA 1500 ] Leonardo Da Vinci designs a diving suit and flexible snorkel system for breathing at depth. The snorkel is made of cane tubes [...]

Diving History

First dives for treasure

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 480 BCE ] Herodotus tells of Cyana (a.k.a. Hydna of Scione) and her father Scyllias, a pair of divers who recovered sunken treasure for the Persian King Xerxes. When Xerxes [...]

Diving History

Divers in the Trojan War

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 1194 BCE ] Homer writes of divers attacking ships during the Trojan War in the Iliad. Whether there is any historical reality behind the Trojan War remains an open question. Many [...]

Diving History

William Bourne designs a wooden submarine

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 1578 ] William Bourne, an English mathematician draws the first plans for an underwater boat powered by oars. The wooden submarine covered [...]

Diving History

Edmond Halley improves the diving bell

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 1690 ] English astronomer Edmond Halley—of Halley’s Comet fame—improves the diving bell. Additional air is available in weighted barrels [...]

Diving History

Artifacts recovered from Antikythera

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 2015 ] Archaeologists excavating the Antikythera shipwreck recover more than 50 items including a bronze armrest, remains of a bone [...]

Diving History

Anthony’s Key Resort is founded on Roatan

By Jeffrey Gallant

[1968] Julio Galindo Sr. and his wife, Cheryl Galindo, welcome their first guests on the island of Roatán, Honduras. Anthony’s Key Resort has since become [...]

Diving History

Refit of Cousteau’s Calypso restarts

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 2016 ] Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s famed oceanographic vessel Calypso is moved to Turkey for a full refit, including new engines; Calypso's sad saga began [...]

Diving History

Two divers die in Johnson Sea Link

By Jeffrey Gallant

[1973] Edwin Clayton Link and Albert Dennison Stover died from carbon dioxide poisoning after the submersible was entangled for over 24 hours at a depth [...]

Diving History

Record habitat dive in Romania

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 1994 ] Romanian aquanauts Liviu Miron and Constantin Mihaï set the European record for the longest uninterrupted stay in an underwater [...]

Diving History

Renowned explorers in the High Arctic

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 2015 ] A team of renowned explorers mounts the Elysium – Artists for the Arctic expedition to the High Arctic to produce a feature documentary, a book [...]

Diving History

Kessler designs diving bell

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 1616 ] German inventor Franz Kessler designs an unstable diving bell with a harness and glass ports. Kessler was also a was a portrait painter, a [...]

Diving History

Antikythera Shipwreck found

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 1900 ] Greek sponge divers discover the Antikythera Shipwreck and recover artifacts, including the oldest known analog computer. The [...]

Diving History

Natalia Molchanova disappears

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 2015 ] World champion freediver Natalia Molchanova (Russia) disappears while teaching a freediving course off the coast of Formentera [...]

Join the editor of the Diving Almanac as he visits record destinations, and meets notable divers and personalities from our international Who’s Who.

The Diving Almanac is the only central body of information on diving records, people, and diving history. Browse the website or search our exclusive database of thousands of records, diver profiles and historical events covering every aspect of the underwater world.