A 13-year-old British girl will soon be the youngest person to ever dive between the tectonic plates that separate the continents of North America and Europe.
Charlotte Burns, already the youngest-ever PADI Junior Master Scuba Diver, recently received special permission from the Icelandic government to dive the 200-foot-/61-meter-deep Silfra fissure in the country’s Thingvellir National Park this coming September.
Charlotte needed the special dispensation because the normal minimum age to dive the fissure is 18. The fact that British explorer Monty Halls will accompany her and the dive will be filmed for a documentary certainly didn’t hurt her request.
Charlotte, who hails from Kent in southeastern England, began diving at the age of 10 and has logged more than 130 dives all over the world, including Scotland, Cyprus and California. PADI has also appointed her as a “global ambassador” with a focus on encouraging more women and girls to take up diving.
“It’s very rare to have two plates that aren’t colliding — being able to dive through that in water and touch two continents at the same time is amazing,” Charlotte told Facebook’s Mighty Girl page.
The documentary will be used to teach schoolkids about tectonic plates.
For more info about Charlotte, check out her website (http://charlotte-burns.com/) or the video below.