Canada's greatest explorers 2015

James Cameron

Photo credit: Dr. Joe MacInnis

Deepest diver

Expertise: Diving, Invention, Environment, Photography, film, art

By Leah Gerber

One of the highest points in James Cameron’s career was also his lowest. In March 2012 he became the first human to travel solo to the bottom of the western Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench, which at almost 11 kilometres below sea level is the deepest place on Earth. Cameron and his engineering team spent more than seven years designing the submersible Deepsea Challenger to do the job.

A formidable mix of director, environmentalist and ocean explorer, Cameron has led dozens of dives and submersible explorations, most notably to the wreck of Titanic. In addition to directing box office behemoths such as Titanic and Avatar, he founded Earthship Productions, a company dedicated to creating documentaries about ocean conservation and exploration and to bringing the deep ocean to life for a global audience.