( CNN ) -- There is an opening scene in Hollywood blockbuster `` Titanic '' when an alien-like submarine plunges to the darkest depths of the ocean . `` Seeing her coming out of the water like a ghost ship -- still gets me every time , '' murmurs treasure hunter Brock Lockett , gazing in awe at the sunken ship from his luminous capsule . More than 15 years after director James Cameron made his Oscar-winning film , it was his turn to scour the deep sea in a high-tech pod . But unlike his `` Titanic '' fictional character Lockett , Cameron was n't in search of a sunken diamond -- instead he was gathering scientific data which could revolutionize our understanding of both deep sea creatures and earthquakes . Last year , the 57-year-old Canadian director of box office hits `` Avatar '' and `` Terminator '' series , became the first person to reach the deepest point of the ocean solo . Cameron 's remarkable journey 11-kilometers below the water in a seven-meter long sub , was part of a National Geographic fact-finding mission more than a year in the making . Predicting earthquakes . In a special interview with CNN , the filmmaker revealed the expedition could one day help scientists predict deep sea earthquakes -- and their devastating tsunamis . `` Building technology vehicles like the DeepSea Challenger to get down there , is a first step to planting large instruments which could allow us to survey seismic activity , '' explained Cameron . `` Ultimately it could lead to some predictive modeling which tells us 'look we 've got pressure building up here , maybe this could be a tsunami in the Pacific rim , get ready , brace yourselves . '' Dig deep . Cameron admitted we 're still some way off predicting earthquakes , but until now we did n't have the technology to fully explore such depths as the Mariana Trench -- the deepest point in the ocean . The great chasm , located off the coast of Guam in the Pacific Ocean , is more than a mile deeper than Mount Everest is tall , and a whopping 120 times larger than the Grand Canyon . Cameron is just the third person to reach the Mariana Trench , since oceanographers Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard in 1960 , and the only person to do so solo . He spent more than three hours exploring the ocean floor -- far longer than the 20 minutes Walsh and Jacques did in their huge blimp-like submersible 53 years ago . `` Before now , there was so little access to these deep trenches which , if you add them all together , constitute an area the size of North America , '' said Cameron . `` We simply did n't have vehicles that could function at that depth because of the extreme pressure , so the DeepSea Challenger represents a new generation of vehicles that will open up that frontier . '' Alien life . But the ground-breaking expedition was n't just a leap into the unknown -- the team also discovered dozens of species of marine life , some with mysterious cases of gigantism . `` We found 68 new species -- including around 60 new bacterial species never seen by science before , '' said Cameron . `` We also found examples of gigantism , which is as yet unexplained . Now do n't imagine something 30 feet long , but if you have an animal that 's normally a centimeter long suddenly appearing 10 or 20 times its normal size , how do you explain that ? '' Small sub , big dreams . Cocooned in his lime green sub , in a world so deep under water that the sunlight does n't penetrate and the pressure can be a thousand times that on land , Cameron admitted feeling `` like a walnut in his shell . '' The 12-ton pod , designed by Cameron and his team of engineers , was made from a super-strong glass foam material able to withstand the immense pressure which shrunk it by three inches . Unlike Walsh and Piccard 's 18-meter sub , which five decades ago was not equipped to take photos , today 's cutting-edge DeepSea Challenger was armed with multiple cameras and a mechanical arm for scooping up rock and animal samples . Future generations . Back on dry land , the DeepSea Challenger will now tour schools across the U.S. as it winds its way to its final home at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts . `` It 's turned into this cross-country adventure for the sub and I believe that we 'll be able to inspire young minds to want to pursue a career in engineering , maths , science , and exploration , '' said Cameron . The Canadian , who has made 72 deep sea dives , including 33 to the actual sunken `` Titanic , '' added that the government should be investing more in ocean research . `` There 's always been a huge imbalance in the funds going into space exploration , and I do n't begrudge that because I like exploration , but we definitely are underfunded in ocean science right now , '' he said . Fearless filmmaker . Cameron 's next challenge however will not be on the ocean floor , but creating the second and third installments of his 2009 film `` Avatar '' -- the highest grossing movie of all time . Much like plummeting to the darkest depths of the sea , filmmaking presents its own pressure . As the three-time Academy Award winner said : `` I 'd much rather deal with the physical threats of deep sea ocean diving or the potential failures of engineering , than I would the fickleness of an audience . ''
`` Titanic '' director James Cameron only person to reach deepest point of ocean solo . Hunched over in futuristic 7 meter pod , Cameron explores ocean floor on research mission . Comment: Discovered 68 new species of marine life never seen by scientists .