Anonymous Millionaire Is Funding a Civilization Under the Sea

Man has long dreamed of creating a society under the sea—preferably one that collapses under the weight of its cruel Objectivist ideals and descends into a dystopian nightmare rife with madness and carnage.

But not all dreams of undersea habitation and scientific research would end like Bioshock. Some people dream of creating their very own SeaQuest DSV or, failing that, a Sealab 2021. A company called DEEP is trying to do exactly that.

DEEP Wants to Create a Society Under the Sea

DEEP’s goal, as stated by its chief operating officer Mike Shackleford, as told to The Guardian, is to “live in the ocean, forever. To have permanent human settlements in all oceans across the world.” Now that’s a simple, clear-cut statement of intent that sounds only vaguely evil.

DEEP is very aware of the Oceangate submarine disaster and how it can come off when a bunch of ambitious rich people thinks they’re masters of the ocean. That’s why DEEP isn’t telling government regulations to suck their ass.

It’s working hand-in-hand with Det Norske Veritas, or DNV, a fully accredited international risk management and safety agency, to make sure that it has tested and certified all of its designs for deep-sea vehicles and habitats. By the way, DEEP calls it undersea bases “sentinels.”

Look, guys, if you’re trying to convince me that you’re NOT a bunch of crazy rich people with ill intent who want to escape the world to conduct your unethical experiments deep beneath the sea, far away from the laws of man, you can start by not calling a building a “sentinel.”

Maybe it’s because I’ve read way too many X-Men comics, but the word has an inherent authoritarian ring to it that you should avoid. How did this not come up in any of your meetings?

How Does DEEP Plan to Do This?

DEEP wants to establish undersea colonies for research and exploration. These colonies and their inhabitants would be permanent, or at least in theory, for now. We’ll see how long until deep-sea madness sets in and someone needs to get the hell out of there so they can again experience the profound joy of, say, devouring a cheeseburger right there in the drive-through, and other types of happiness that can only be experienced on dry land.

DEEP is based out of Gloucestershire, England. Its base of operations has an 80-meter deep lake that it uses for testing its submersibles and even has a training facility for scientists. It all sounds very well-funded and rather expensive.

That’s where the mystery comes in. All of this is being funded by a wealthy private investor who’s helping the company’s dreams come true. Who is this mystery person who wants to flee humanity and live beneath the waves? Who knows.

But we can assume that anybody with this level of wealth and ambition is probably not normal. At the very least, they are the most socially awkward person you’ve ever met.