--- description: American explorer Victor Vescovo ventured 35,853 feet into Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench and saw a plastic bag and candy wrappers title: Plastic Bag Found Found at Deepest Point in Ocean image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67e363f5002e56c0/698949e186f68e1a786ebdce/plastic-garbage-ocean.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Environment](/tag/environment/) ## Environment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # An Explorer Just Made the Deepest Ever Manned Sea Dive — and He Found a Plastic Bag by [Amy Gunia](/author/amy-gunia/) ## Amy Gunia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gunia was a reporter for TIME based in Hong Kong. May 14, 2019 3:00 AM CUT  Garbage concentrated on Botafogo beach on the south side of Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil, on March 30, 2015. Garbage concentrated on Botafogo beach on the south side of Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil, on March 30, 2015.Bruno de Lima—AP by [Amy Gunia](/author/amy-gunia/) ## Amy Gunia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gunia was a reporter for TIME based in Hong Kong. May 14, 2019 3:00 AM CUT An American explorer who set a new record for the deepest ever manned sea dive says he saw a plastic bag and candy wrappers at the [bottom of the ocean](https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/victor-vescovo-deepest-dive-pacific/index.html "undefined"). Victor Vescovo, 53, visited Challenger Deep, which is the deepest known point in the ocean in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean on May 1, according to CNN. Details of his trip were released on Monday. His team said he set a new record for the deepest solo dive in history, venturing to depths of 35,853 feet. _Titanic_ director [James Cameron](http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/03/25/james-cameron-reaches-oceans-deepest-point-7-miles-below/ "undefined") held the record before Vescovo’s recent journey. Aside from plastic trash, he discovered four new species, reports CNN. The team’s scientists plan to test the creatures to see if they have ingested plastic. **Read More:** [_Environmentalists Say Tiny Plastic ‘Nurdles’ Threaten Earth’s Oceans_](http://time.com/5501065/tiny-plastic-enemy-oceans-nurdle/ "undefined") His expedition was part of a Discovery Channel series on deep ocean exploration. The explorers are trying to complete sonar mapping at the five deepest spots in the world’s oceans, according to CNN. Each year, [8 million tons](http://time.com/5244682/earth-day-plastic-lego-skyscrapers/ "undefined") of plastic ends up in the ocean. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5588691/victor-vescovo-plastic-oceans/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5588691/victor-vescovo-plastic-oceans/"},"headline":"An Explorer Just Made the Deepest Ever Manned Sea Dive — and He Found a Plastic Bag","datePublished":"2019-05-14T03:00:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T23:31:06.563Z","description":"Victor Vescovo ventured 35,853 feet to the bottom of the ocean and found garbage","url":"https://time.com/5588691/victor-vescovo-plastic-oceans/","keywords":["Environment","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67e363f5002e56c0/698949e186f68e1a786ebdce/plastic-garbage-ocean.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Amy Gunia","jobTitle":"Gunia was a reporter for TIME based in Hong Kong.","url":"https://time.com/author/amy-gunia/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67e363f5002e56c0/698949e186f68e1a786ebdce/plastic-garbage-ocean.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"plastic-garbage-ocean","caption":"Large amount of accumulated garbage, concentrated on Botafogo beach on the south side of Rio de Janeiro","creditText":"Bruno de Lima—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/environment/","name":"Environment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5588691/victor-vescovo-plastic-oceans/","name":"An Explorer Just Made the Deepest Ever Manned Sea Dive — and He Found a Plastic Bag"}}]}] ```