![]() ![]() The Deep Sea ~ Ocean biology, Marine life, Sea creatures, Marine conservation.. Marine. Bio. org. The Ocean / NEXT: Research Tools & Methods » Over 6. The deep sea is the largest habitat on earth and is largely unexplored. More people have traveled into space than have traveled to the deep ocean realm.. Devoted to the exploration of the deep ocean, specializing in underwater navigation, search analysis, and at-sea operations. The Great Blue Hole, located just 100 kilometers (60 miles) off the coast of Belize, is an underwater sinkhole that researchers believe is the largest of its kind. The Blue Planet Seas of Life. Most people familiar with the oceans know about life only in the intertidal zone, where the water meets land, and the epipelagic zone, the upper sunlit zone of the open ocean. Though these zones contain an abundance of ocean life because sunlight is available for photosynthesis, they make up only a small fraction of the ocean biome. In fact, most of the ocean is cold, dark and deep. It is important to realize that photosynthesis occurs only down to about 1. Mariana Trench! To get an idea of how vast the ocean's depths are, consider that 7. Legend. The Explorer Society is a noble order of explorers who have ventured themselves to the very core of the Tibian realm. You can join this society and raise in. See photos of sea creatures that are masters of camouflage (such as anglerfish, the mimic octopus, cuttlefish, and more) in this oceans photo gallery from National. Deep-Sea Creatures. Adaptation is the name of the game when you live thousands of feet below the water's surface. See how these deep-sea denizens make the most of. Latest Top Hot News about about Undersea Hunter Fleet, Cocos & Malpelo Island, DeepSee Submersible, Liveaboards, Cruises, Dive, Scuba Diving, Special Expedition. Meet the DEEPSEA CHALLENGE team, led by National Geographic Explorer-In-Residence James Cameron. Specialized full service dive travel company dedicated to scuba divers and their companions. Best deals, best service the best in dive travel vacation packages! Our. This clip is a short montage of an original solo show by Tim Watts. Set in a post apocalyptic environmental water world, Alvin Sputnik must journey down. Until recently, the deep sea was largely unexplored. But advances in deep sea submersibles and image capturing and sampling technologies are increasing the opportunities for marine biologists to observe and uncover the mysteries of the deep ocean realm. Deep sea research is vital because this area is such an enormous part of the biosphere. Despite its depth and distance, it is still our backyard in comparison to outer space. And yet, human exploration has revealed more detail about the surface of the moon and Mars that it has about the deep sea! Consider that hydrothermal vents and their unique organisms, which revolutionized our ideas about energy sources and the adaptability of life, were only discovered in 1. There may be yet other life- altering discoveries to be found at the bottom of the ocean. The oceans are divided into two broad realms; the pelagic and the benthic. Pelagic refers to the open water in which swimming and floating organisms live. Organisms living there are called the pelagos. From the shallowest to the deepest, biologists divide the pelagic into the epipelagic (less than 2. The last three zones have no sunlight at all. Benthic zones are defined as the bottom sediments and other surfaces of a body of water such as an ocean or a lake. Organisms living in this zone are called benthos. They live in a close relationship with the bottom of the sea, with many of them permanently attached to it, some burrowed in it, others swimming just above it. In oceanic environments, benthic habitats are zoned by depth, generally corresponding to the comparable pelagic zones: the intertidal (where sea meets land, with no pelagic equivalent), the subtidal (the continental shelves, to about 2. ![]() There are several types of deep benthic surfaces, each having different life forms. First, most of the deep seafloor consists of mud (very fine sediment particles) or "ooze" (defined as mud with a high percentage of organic remains) due to the accumulation of pelagic organisms that sink after they die. Unlike the shoreline, sandy habitats are rarely found in the deep sea because sand particles, created by wave action on coral and rocks at shorelines, are too heavy to be carried by currents to the deep.] Second, benthic areas too steep for sediment to stick are rocky. Rocky areas are found on the flanks of islands, seamounts, rocky banks, on mid- ocean ridges and their rift valleys, and some parts of continental slopes. At the mid- ocean ridges, where magma wells up and pushes seafloor tectonic plates apart, even flat surfaces are rocky because these areas are too geologically new to have accumulated much mud or ooze. Third, in some areas certain chemical reactions produce unique benthic formations. The best known of these formations are the "smoker" chimneys created by hydrothermal vents, which are described in detail below. Exploration of these zones has presented a challenge to scientists for decades and much remains to be discovered. However, advances in technology are increasingly allowing scientists to learn more about the strange and mysterious life that exists in this harsh environment. Life in the deep sea must withstand total darkness (except for non- solar light such as bioluminescence), extreme cold, and great pressure. To learn more about deep- sea marine life, sophisticated data collection devices have been developed to collect observations and even geological and biological samples from the deep. First, advances in observational equipment such as fiber optics that use LED light and low light cameras has increased our understanding of the behaviors and characteristics of deep sea creatures in their natural habitat. Such equipment may be deployed on permanent subsea stations connected to land by fiber optic cables, or on "lander" devices which drop to the seafloor and which are later retrieved (typically after a radio command activates the dropping of ballast so the lander may float up.) Second, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) have been used underwater since the 1. ROVs are basically unmanned submarine robots with umbilical cables used to transmit data between the vehicle and researcher for remote operation in areas where diving is constrained by physical hazards. ROVs are often fitted with video and still cameras as well as with mechanical tools such as mechanical arms for specimen retrieval and measurements. Other unmanned submarine robots include AUVs (autonomous undersea vehicles) that operate without a cable, and the USA's new Nereus, a hybrid unmanned sub which can switch from ROV to AUV mode and which is currently the world's only unmanned submarine capable of reaching the deepest trenches. Third, manned deep sea submersibles are also used to explore the ocean's depths. Alvin is an American deep sea submersible built in 1. Like ROVs, it has cameras and mechanical arms. This sub, which carries 3 people (typically a pilot and 2 scientists), has been used for more than 4,0. France, Japan and Russia have similar manned scientific submersibles that can reach somewhat greater depths, while China is currently building one to reach 7,0. The bathyscaphe Trieste at the National Museum of the U. S. Navy in Washington, D. C. Until 2. 01. 2, only one manned submarine device has ever reached the bottom of Mariana trench at almost 1. Trieste manned by Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh. During the Trieste's single dive in 1. March 2. 5, 2. 01. March 2. 6 local time), James Cameron successfully dove in his commissioned one- man sub to the Challenger Deep. Don Walsh was invited to join the expedition. Physical Characteristics of the Deep Sea. The physical characteristics that deep sea life must contend with to survive are: abiotic (non- living) ones, namely light (or lack thereof), pressure, currents, temperature, oxygen, nutrients and other chemicals; andbiotic ones, that is, other organisms that may be potential predators, food, mates, competitors or symbionts. All these factors have led to fascinating adaptions of deep sea life for sensing, feeding, reproducing, moving, and avoiding being eaten by predators. Light. The deep sea begins below about 2. From there to about 1,0. This faint light is deep blue in color because all the other colors of light are absorbed at depth. The deepest ocean waters below 1,0. And yet, there IS some light. People who dive deep in a submersible (with its lights off) are often mesmerized by an incredible "light show" of floating, swirling, zooming flashes of light. This is bioluminescence, a chemical reaction in a microbe or animal body that creates light without heat, and it is very common. And yet, this light is low compared to sunlight, so animals here — as well as those in the mesopelagic zone — need special sensory adaptations. Many deep- sea fish such as the stout blacksmelt have very large eyes to capture what little light exists. Other animals such as tripodfishes are essentially blind and instead rely on other, enhanced senses including smell, touch and vibration. Scientists think bioluminescence has six different functions (not all used by any one species): headlights, such as the forward- facing light organs (called photophores) of lantern fish; social signals such as unique light patterns for attracting mates; lures to attract curious prey, such as the dangling "fishing lures" of anglerfish; counterillumination, in which rows of photophores on the bellies of many mesopelagic fish produce blue light exactly matching the faint sunlight from above (making the fish invisible to predators below them); confusing predators or prey, such as bright flashes that some squid make to stun their prey, and decoys that divert attention, such as the glowing green blobs ejected by green bomber worms; and"burglar alarms" in which an animal being attacked illuminates its attacker (the "burglar") so that an even bigger predator (the "police") will see the burglar and go after it. Some swimming sea cucumbers even coat their attackers with sticky glowing mucus so the "police" predators can find them many minutes later. Most bioluminescence is blue, or blue- green, because those are the colors that travel farthest in water. As a result, most animals have lost the ability to see red light, since that is the color of sunlight that disappears first with depth. But a few creatures, like the dragonfish, have evolved the ability to produce red light. This light, which the dragonfish can see, gives it a secret "sniper" light to shine on prey that do not even know they are being lit up! Pressure. Considering the volume of water above the deepest parts of the ocean, it's no wonder that hydrostatic pressure is one of the most important environmental factors affecting deep sea life. Pressure increases 1 atmosphere (atm) for each 1. The deep sea varies in depth from 2. High pressures can cause air pockets, such as in fish swim bladders, to be crushed, but it does not compress water itself very much. Instead, high pressure distorts complex biomolecules — especially membranes and proteins — upon which all life depends. Indeed, many food companies now use high pressure to sterilize their products such as packaged meats.
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