Dennis Chamberland

Sept-October 2008 Vol. 42, No. 5

Dennis Chamberland, director of the nonprofit League of the New Worlds, a group whose mission is the colonization of the oceans and space. The League is building a deep sea module called the Leviathan and hopes that, in 2010, the completed Leviathan module will sustain three aquanauts underwater for 80 days in a central Florida lagoon in a live test. If the project succeeds, the league will follow up with the 2012 launch of the Challenger, an underwater laboratory and residential complex that will house people permanently at its planned site in the Gulf Stream.

FUTURIST: How will you get oxygen to the Leviathan undersea module?

Chamberland: There are all kinds of ways to get oxygen down to a human colony. You can access it from sea water; you can extract it from the hydrolisis of the water itself. You can do reverse osmosis and draw it out of the water itself. You can suction it from the air it pump it down by hose, which we are going to do.

We'll rely on the Blue Dominion. It’s a surface craft above water that’s a temporary step to human underwater habitation. You want to sever that surface water connection wherever possible, but you can never sever it completely. You also need a docking station.

We're also going to have a submersible surface support station. When a storm comes along we can submerge it and tie it down. You will need some surface connection and tie it down. Well have advanced life support systems.

FUTURIST: How close is the Leviathan to completion?

Chamberland: We ran into some funding issues so we’re looking to launch it in 2010. We just set the clock back today. It was supposed to launch in 2009. That’s one of the risks that you take when you try to coordinate a huge project with uncertain funding strains.

FUTURIST: How costly was it?

Chamberland: We’re talking tens of thousands of dollars for the navigation module, which we’ve completed. But I don’t have an exact figure since we haven’t completed the Leviathan itself yet. What you’re really talking about is planning funds.

FUTURIST: What challenges does building in the ocean present?

Chamberland: We haven’t been building in the oceans at present. The Leviathan is going to be in a lagoon in central Florida. You ask a good question because building in the ocean is much different than building in a protected lagoon. I want you to note that that is central Florida and not to be confused with the Keys. I say that because there is other work going on in the Keys and I don’t want to get the two mixed up.

We have our share of competition.

FUTURIST: Of competition?

Chamberland: There are other groups coming up with undersea projects. There’s tension going on in the community. It’s actually quite active. All of a sudden, there has been a huge swell in activities in this area.

FUTURIST: You mean in the last 10 years?

Chamberland: I would say that the trends seem to start with the planning of the undersea hotels. And I have no complaints against those hotels. They certainly serve to raise awareness about human habitation in the sea. My group planted and harvested the first crop in 1974 in Key Largo. We started the League of the New Worlds started in 1992. We began planning for it that year.

FUTURIST: So the hotels raised interest in underwater habitation?

Chamberland: I think it just happened. I think it all just started at the same time. I don’t think they are related. Certainly we’re not involved in undersea hotels. We’re designed to be a permanent community with families, research stations, et cetera.

FUTURIST: Do you get a sense that the public, and their elected officials, have long been skittish about ocean habitations, considering that the United States has declared multiple space exploration initiatives but never to my knowledge an ocean colonization initiative?

Chamberland: It just boggles my mind. How many people permanently occupy space? There are probably four on the International Space Station. How many people are living under the ocean? Zero. I