You climb into your submersible. It's a pretty tight fit-just you and maybe one or two others. You wriggle around in your seat to get comfortable. After all, you'll be sitting there for the next eight to twelve hours or so. The giant crane on the research vessel lifts your submersible in the air and slowly lowers it into the ocean. Splash! You watch as the water level on the window in front of you rises. Until.. you are submerged. The thick cables attached to the top of the craft continue lowering you slowly through the water. At the rate of 115 to 131 feet per minute, it can take up to two hours to reach your maximum depth of almost 20,000 feet. It's okay, you're not in a rush. Although you're descending into depths where pressure outside of your submersible would crush you, you really don't feel it. The inside of the submersible is kept at a constant atmospheric pressure, which is the normal pressure here on Earth. At most you may feel like you do when you are taking off in an aircraft: s slight pressure in your ears and tightness in your chest. As you settle deeper under the water, you become used to it, and that feeling goes away. As you descend through the depths, the darkness consumes you. You turn on the lights outside your submersible. The six 5,000-watt lightbulbs would be blinding on the surface, but deep underwater the light hits the water and reflects back. You are able to see only a few feet in front of your craft. The water doesn't allow much light through its thick layers. Flash! a greenish blue creature swims by!! Find out what happens next at part 2!!!