Free Diving World Record Amazed by Beautiful Sea Lions in Robinson Crusoe Island
Press Release Date: September 10, 2015
Location: Santiago, Chile
Contact:
Anna Baxter | email: abaxter@oceana.org
Anna Baxter
The following video shows the experience of Venezuelan Carlos Coste, multiple world record free diver, in Chile’s Robinson Crusoe Island, Juan Fernández Archipelago, in the Pacific Ocean. Free diving is an extreme sport that relies on divers’ ability to hold their breath while attempting to attain great depths or distances.
Invited by the marine conservation organization, Oceana, Coste arrived at Robinson Crusoe Island to take part in the “South Pacific Deep”, an event organized by the Municipality of Juan Fernández and which became the first international apnea meeting in the South Pacific.
“Carlos Coste played a key role during his visit. Having such a world class sportsman here had a strategic importance for the dissemination of tourism activities like diving. On the other hand, Coste is closely connected with the environmental causes we are trying to promote”, pointed Juan Fernández’s Mayor, Felipe Paredes.
Known for having one of the most richest and beautiful ecosystems in the planet, the Juan Fernández Archipelago was the perfect setting for this activity for the ongoing promotion of a local culture of respect for nature and the need to develop environmental protection policies.
The local community already achieved the declaration of a Multiple-Use Marine and Coastal Protected Area (MU-MCPA) surrounding the first 12 miles of the Archipelago. Additionally and jointly with Oceana and National Geographic, it is proposing one of the world’s largest marine parks around the Desventuradas Islands, a set of islands that belong to Chile and where fishermen from Juan Fernández have travelled to fish lobster for more than one hundred years.
“Juan Fernández is a world leader given its early understanding that its future depends on protecting and sustainably using its ocean rather than overexploiting it. They are a model to be supported and followed around the world “, stated Alex Muñoz, Vice President for Oceana in Chile.
Coste’s visit was extremely meaningful to position the Archipelago as a perfect destination for underwater activities. This Venezuelan sportsman was the first human to break the 100 meter depth barrier, free-diving and unassisted; he also holds the apnea cave record by traveling a distance of more than 170 meters in a cave network (cenote) in Mexico, as well as several records recognized by the most important federations and by Guinness World Records.