Australian aquanaut emerges from urine-fueled yellow submarine

An Australian adventurer emerged from the bottom of a lake yesterday after spending nearly two weeks living underwater, riding a bike to generate electricity and using algae to produce oxygen.

Breathing air provided by algae soaked in his own urine, "aquanaut" Lloyd Godson spent 12 days living in a yellow steel capsule submerged in a flooded gravel pit.



The 29-year-old's claustrophobic ordeal was intended to shed light on the practical and psychological challenges of living in an alien environment.

His temporary home, a 10ft long box, was billed as "the world's first self-sufficient, self-sustaining underwater habitat". Back on dry land, and toasting the success of the experiment with champagne, he admitted to suffering cabin fever.



"It starts to play on your mind a bit after 12 days obviously. You start to get a bit of cabin fever, but you know I handled it surprisingly well. I thought it was going to drive me a bit more nuts than it did."

A team of divers delivered food and drinking water to the sub through a manhole, including a homemade lasagna and freshly barbecued salmon.