James Cameron’s eco-concerns

His concerns for the environment took Cameron to Brazil for tree plantation, an endeavor he'd be later extending to New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

Underwater celebrations to highlight environmental issues?
The director of blockbuster movies, Titanic and Avatar, got into Mir-1 and took a thrilling voyage down the Lake Baikal in Siberia.

Besides following his interest, it is also said that the director had intended to draw attention to the pollution problems there.

Deeply into it
Keeping in line with his passion for underwater diving, Cameron opted to see the bottom of the world's oldest and deepest lake. He was reportedly invited for this underwater ride by his friend Anatoly Sagalevich, who had also lent him a hand while shooting for Titanic.

Sagalevich is the head of the Science Academy's deep diving research program of Mir-1 and Mir-2 mini submarines.

Cameron arrived in Russia on Sunday with wife Suzy.

He was joined on board by an Australian explorer from Arctic 2007, Michael MacDowell, and the author ‘Avatar: A Confidential Report on the Biological and Social History of Pandora,’ Maria Wilhelm.

“James Cameron dove to the bottom of Lake Baikal in the south near Cape Tolsty on the Mir-1 piloted by Anatoly Sagalevich,” said the press service spokesman for the foundation for preservation of Lake Baikal.

On resurfacing from their underwater expedition, the crew opened a bottle of champagne to commemorate the successful dive as well as Cameron’s birthday.

Other than his professional and recreational interest in underwater activities, Cameron was also ready to dive in for ecological concerns. Earlier this summer, the director had offered help with the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. He met up with officials in Washington to come up with possible fixes to save the Gulf waters.

Cameron collects soil samples from lake’s bottom
The group dove down to around 1,300 meters (4,265 feet) of the lake, whose deepest point is recorded to be at 1,400 meters (4,600 feet). Cameron spent around 3.5 hours exploring the underwater beauty and even collected some souvenirs.

One dive on a submersible reportedly costs some s 2 million rubles ($64,800).

Inna Krylova, deputy head Russia's Fund for Protection of Lake Baikal told AFP that the director is “delighted” about his voyage. “He would really like to continue research,” she said, adding that Cameron got soil samples from the bottom of the lake, which contains about 20 percent of the world's fresh water.

On resurfacing from their underwater expedition, the crew opened a bottle of champagne to commemorate the successful dive as well as Cameron’s birthday.

The director had expressed his desire to keep this trip from being highlighted in the media.

Its gloomy down there
Last August, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, had also taken a voyage right down to the bottom of Lake Baikal, amidst much publicity. Putin said he was astonished by the gloominess of things down there.

This is not the first “deep” underwater voyage of the Canadian-born director. He had used a similar mini-submarine to dive to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean in 1997, while filming his disaster epic ‘Titanic.’

Efforts for the environment
James Cameron is also up for doing his bit for the environment. Back in April, the director planted first of 1 million trees in Brazil, as part of an initiative to help the planet.

According to AP, ‘Earth Day Network’ is signing on groups in 15 countries to plant 1 million trees this year through the Avatar Home Tree Initiative.

“Earth Day Network is proud to collaborate with this diverse group of dedicated partners on the Avatar Home Tree Initiative, working together toward reforestation in areas of need,” said Kathleen Rogers, President of the group.