Armenian Divers Set World Record by Diving to Bottom of Lake Kari

Last month, a daring scuba diving world record was broken after a team of divers from Ayas Nautical Research Club and Armenian Extreme Ltd dived to the bottom of the Lake Kari on Aragats Mountain in Armenia.

The adventure scuba diving expedition took place on 21st July 2011 and was organised by the world champion diver, Rafael Mkrtchyan. The visit involved the team scuba diving to the bottom of the cold lake which is situated 3207 metres above sea level.

Located on a plateau on the slopes of Aragats Mountain, Lake Kari is mostly formed by ice and snow. Scuba divers were exposed to dangerous conditions because of the height of the location of the lake, the cold waters, sharp changes in pressure levels and a shortage of oxygen.

Once the divers submerged into the lake, they experienced water temperatures of +5 degrees on the surface and +3 degrees at the bottom of the spectacular lake. During the dive they also managed to measure the lake’s depth.

Rafael Mkrtchyan spoke of his expedition at a news conference in Yerevan.

“We stayed underwater for 1 hr. 20 min which was enough to study 70% of the lake bottom. During submersion the temperature was +5 C on the surface and +3 C in the lake bottom, it was very cold. 20 years ago the lake froze over, so the lake wasn’t rich in fauna; still, we discovered several species of fish,” he explained.

The only other similar expedition of this kind known to this date was led by Jacques Yves Cousteau, the French underwater explorer, who took the first and the only team to visit Lake Titicaca in the Southern Hemisphere in 1968.

With scuba diving holidays bookers on the increase as more travellers seek adrenalin-pumping activities during their adventure-packed holidays. While tropical destinations such as the Caribbean, Indian Ocean, Red Sea, and Australia’s Great Barrier Reef see the majority of recreational and professional scuba divers, many underwater voyagers are heading to colder waters to explore undiscovered sites.

In recent months, spectacular images have been unveiled of the Orda Cave in Russia, the longest underwater gypsum crystal cave in the world, and underwater volcanoes in Iceland with crevices which divide the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates.