The Ocean’s Depths: Marine Adventures – Each dive into the abyss yields important scientific data and reminds the world of the critical need to protect the planet’s oceans.
In 1960, Jacques Picard and Don Walsh reached the deepest point of the world’s oceans piloting a submarine named Trieste. More recently, new records were set by James Cameron’s first solo descent in 2013, Patrick Lahey and Jonathan Struw’s deepest sea recovery in 2019, and astronaut Kathryn Sullivan, who set the record for the first woman in 2020. There are 12 records out of 15 in total. The first is an underwater vehicle, the Limiting Factor, designed by Canadian engineer Patrick Lahey. As part of the Five Depths Expedition, Victor Vescovo piloted the Confining Factor to the deepest points in five of the world’s oceans, conducting surveys and collecting biological samples from each area, as well as mapping previously unexplored fracture zones.
The Ocean’s Depths: Marine Adventures
Jules Verne’s 1869 novel, Vingt Mille Lieues Sous Les Mers (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea), sparked the imagination of early science fiction readers. Today, most assume that its title refers to the abyssal depths of the ocean. Actually, Verne was referring to a lateral submarine trip into “les mers” (plural seas), not a plunge into the darkest depths. Nevertheless, since the publication of Verne’s book, mankind continues to be fascinated by the study of the ocean floor.
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To examine the deep depths of the ocean, you do not have to descend 20,000 leagues (about 116,000 kilometers), but you have to travel to the far corner of the Pacific Ocean. At the edge of two colliding tectonic plates, the Mariana Trench boasts a depth of 10,984 meters, at a location called the Challenger Deep. The pressure exceeds one thousand atmospheres, enough force to destroy all the best engineered submarines. Even if a person could survive the pressure, the near-freezing temperatures would be fatal. In context, if we could submerge Everest at this point, there would still be two kilometers of open water at its summit. If you’ve flown a commercial airliner on a clear day, you’ve had a chance to experience the depths of the Challenger Deep.
As the list of visitors to the Challenger Deep grows longer and more records and accolades are tallied, it’s easy to dismiss these expeditions as tourism for the rich. But like space exploration and tourism, these projects can benefit us all. Each dive into the abyss brings important scientific data and reminds the world of the critical need to protect the planet’s oceans.
Back in 1960, Picard and Walsh were aware of the profound risks and helped us see that life was thriving in one of the most hostile environments on Earth. Today’s deep-sea explorers are dismayed to find undeniable signs of humanity in the form of plastic trash and highly toxic pollution levels. A deep-sea shrimp, Eurythenes plasticus, recently recovered from a trench had microplastics in its gut.
In 2020, more people have reached the deep ocean floor than walked on the surface of the moon. I for one don’t care if these recent visits are considered tourism or exploration. Investments like Vescovo and Lahey’s will advance our understanding of humanity’s impact in all the far reaches of the Earth. In the words of the most recent visitor, Hamish Harding, “During the dive (by Vescovo), we will … collect samples from the ocean floor that may contain new life forms and may provide even more information about how life began on our planet. . And by looking for signs of human pollution in these remote environments, we hope to aid scientific efforts to protect our oceans and ensure they thrive for millennia to come.
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Even as robotics and deep-sea remote sensing expand, there will always be room for manned exploration to satisfy our curiosity and stimulate our sense of what lies at the extremes of human possibility.
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Illuminating The Deep Sea’s Living Lights — The Science Writer
The open ocean may not be the first or even the second or third thing that comes to mind when thinking about marine ecosystems, but it is actually the largest ecosystem on Earth. The open ocean lies beyond the continental shelf: it extends from the Arctic to the Antarctic, from the surface down to the deep parts of the ocean, and includes the entire water column. On the map, it makes up 64% of the ocean and 45% of the entire Earth. Thanks to the 3D habitat that water supports, this vast ecosystem covers 99% of Earth’s inhabited space.
In fact, the open ocean ecosystem is so vast that it is divided into five distinct zones based on depth. Each zone is characterized by different physical properties, including light availability, pressure, and temperature.
Here’s the exciting news, more than 80% of the ocean has yet to be mapped, observed or explored. So, if you dream of exploring new lands, then water is the best place. There have been more people in space than in the depths of the open ocean. Enduring the pressure of the deep sea makes underwater research extremely difficult. However, with advances in remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and submarines, we are learning more and more about the mysteries and animals of our unknown blue world. The open ocean is truly an explorer’s world, with so many beautiful and strange animals yet to be discovered.
The open ocean is home to a vast array of organisms, from microscopic plankton to the largest animal that has ever lived, to the blue whale, and creatures of every size, shape, and beauty in between. However, life is not evenly distributed in the open oceans, and much of it is referred to as a biological desert.
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Each zone provides a different environment, largely characterized by the availability of light and pressure, which in turn require animals to have specific adaptations to thrive there. Some animals are restricted to certain areas due to their specific adaptations. Others can move between zones with relative ease, whether to find prey, avoid predators, or perhaps for reproductive reasons.
Tiny zooplankton make enormous diurnal vertical migrations, actively moving from the mesopelagic zone to the shallow waters of the epipelagic zone at night to feed, then returning to the depths during the day to not be eaten. On the other hand, sperm whales dive mammoths hold their breath for up to 90 minutes and reach depths of more than 1000 m in search of food. In these depths, sperm whales can find food worth fighting for: giant squid. Along with the giant squid, many other cephalopods (squid, octopus, cuttlefish and nautilus) call the deep, dark depths home, including the beloved dumbo octopus.
The deep sea is truly a place where the imagination can run wild. Amazing animals found there include a Pacific barrelfish with a rather unique transparent head, a fisherman with a lamp-like appendage hanging from the front of his mouth ready to eat any animal curious enough, and a prehistoric shark that is so ancient. They are more like living fossils than most would recognize as sharks.
In the surface layers you can find a whole range of jellyfish of different sizes and colors, the only completely pelagic reptile, the yellow-bellied snake, which spends its entire life in open water, as well as large pelagic fish such as tuna and marlin. Like dolphins, whales and sharks. The open ocean is also an important feeding habitat for many seabirds, including penguins, albatrosses and puffins. Finally, we can’t forget the vital but sometimes overlooked phytoplankton that form the base of open ocean food webs, thus directly or indirectly supporting all the other life we find there.
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In Spotlight on Sealife, we celebrate the creatures that inspire our love for the oceans and encourage us to fight for their homes. Follow this series to discover lesser-known facts about famous marine life and discover weird and wonderful sea animals you may not have encountered before. If you enjoyed reading this article by Emma Williams, follow her here @emma_underthewaves and look out for more Sealife blogs in the spotlight. Want to write for us? Check out our Get Involved section. By clicking Join or Login, you agree to the User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.
The ocean, which covers more than 70% of our planet, is a realm of wonder and mystery. In our latest video, “Ocean Exploration: Exploring the Deep and Marine Biodiversity,” we embark on a remarkable journey into the heart of the deep.
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