Researcher spends two and a half months in a hotel room at the bottom of the lake (photos)

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A researcher broke a record for staying as long as possible underwater on a weekend at a Florida inn for divers.

Dr. Joseph Dettori's 74th day at Jules Under Sea, located at the bottom of a 30-foot-deep lake in Key Largo, wasn't much different from his previous days there since he was submerged on March 1.

He ate a meal of protein-rich eggs and salmon prepared in the microwave, exercised, performed daily push-ups and took an hour's nap.

The previous record of 73 days, two hours and 34 minutes was set by two Tennessee professors, Bruce Cantrell and Jessica Fine, at the same location in 2014.

But Dettori won't be content with that number, as he plans to stay at the hostel until June 9, when he turns 100 days and completes an underwater mission dubbed Project Neptune 100.

The mission combines medical and ocean research with educational outreach and was organised by the Marine Resources Development Corporation, which owns the lodge. Dettori, a teacher at the University of South Florida, said: "This number is a limited achievement and I really appreciate it. I'm honored to have it, but we still have more science to do."