Dr. Asma Ali (Ecologist)
Switch gears to sea bottom
How is your equation with sea creature?
At 5:52 pm ET Sunday ( 7:52 a.m. Monday, local time) arrival of James Cameron( director of Terminator, Titanic and Avatar) at the Mariana trench’s Challenger Deep, on the depth of 35,756 feet was enough to drag everyone's attention. James Cameron has become the first person to travel solo to the deepest point on Earth. Amazingly that's 120 times deeper than the Grand Canyon and a mile deeper than Mount Everest.
The whole event was recorded by Cameron on 3D camera and that would be turned into a feature film. Mr. Cameron was very much sure to collect as many samples of sea bottom, but due to the Harsh conditions he was not able to collect sample as he wanted to.
The ocean is a continuous body of saltwater that covers more than 70% of the Earth surface; the deepest point in the ocean is around 36,198 feet. Ocean currents govern the world's weather and agitate the Kaleidoscope of the ecosystem. The ocean holds about 321 million cubic miles of water which is roughly 97% of Earth's water supply.
The ocean floor is called the abyssal plain. Below the ocean floor, there are a few small deeper areas called ocean trenches.Features rising up from the ocean floor include seamounts, volcanic islands and the mid oceanic ridges and rises.
The Mariana trench is located in the Western Pacific Ocean about 200 km east of the Mariana Islands; it is the deepest known Ocean trench on earth. It is crescent shaped and measures about 2,550 km in length and 69 km in width.
Researchers from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia ,Canada ,believe that 91% sea creatures are still unknown to only 2,35,000 or so species we know about. According to Columbia university's Earth institute we know more about space than the ocean ,so in a sense ,a majority of the creatures lurking below the surface.
Three main obstacles have kept us from studying the depth of the ocean; absence of light, very cold temperature and high pressure. As you know light only penetrates the top 200 metres of the ocean ( the depth of the ocean can be as much as 11000 meters deep). Most places in the ocean are completely dark, which is impossible for human to explore without bringing a source of light with them.
Secondly, the ocean is very cold; colder than 0 degree Celsius (32 degree Fahrenheit ) in many places. Finally, the pressure increases tremendously as you go deeper. Scuba diver can rarely go deeper than 40 meters due to the pressure. The pressure on a diver at 40 meters would be 4 kilogram per square centimetre. Even though we don't think about it, the air in our atmosphere has weight. It presses down on us with a force of about 1 kilogram per square centimetre (14.7 lbs per square in).
In the ocean for every 10 metre of the depth, the pressure increases by nearly one atmosphere ! Imagine the pressure at 10,000 meter,that would be 1,000 kilogram per square centimetre (14,700 lbs/sq in) . Todays submarines usually dive to only about 500 meters to go deeper than this, they must be specially designed for greater depth (Lumen Earth Science: The ocean ).
Creatures that live thousands of feet below the ocean surface have developed special adaptations to survive. While some of them may look strange to us they have developed this appearance over thousands of years to help them thrive in their extreme environment. From qualities like bioluminescence to special resistance against the extremely high pressure in the deep sea, these animals have found a way to live in their otherworldly environment.
In fish alone there are about 1500 known species that have luminescence.For bioluminescence a species must contain luciferin, a molecule that reacts with oxygen to produce light. There are different types of Lucifer which vary depending.
Marine mammals such as whales, dolphins and seals have an amazing ability to hold their breath-sometimes for up to 2 hours, while they dive deep to search for food and evade predators. In the cold, dark waters hundreds of metre below the surface, animal rely heavily on sound to navigate, avoid danger and locate prey.
In the late 1990's researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) invented the D-Tag ,radio device that can be attached by suction cups to a whales back to record depth, water temperature and other information.
Generally the temperature at the surface of ocean found to be around 37 degree Celsius vice versa bottom of the trench was only 2 degree Celsius. Because of the deepness; sunlight and warmth cannot penetrate, that makes Ocean bottom black and very cold. Pressure was also observed very high at the bottom. According to Cameron its like having three big cars piled on your toes. This caused his capsule to shrink, making it even smaller.
When we see publicly available topographies of seafloor we feel it has covered almost all features of sea bottom and we can get the impression that the job of mapping the planet is over. Far from it, these representation often based on satellite estimates that is not enough to reveal sea bottom ecosystem.
Most of us think the bottom of the ocean is flat and dark and filled with mud or sand and is a happy hunting ground of fishes and octopus. No, it's not true, not all the ocean floor is made of Sand. The ocean floor consists of many materials and it varies by location and depth. It contains the largest mountain range on Earth, Canyon far grander than the Grand Canyon and towering vertical Cliff rising up three miles.
These days everyone taking an interest to know more about moon and solar system and obsessed with aliens ( here, I am not picking up the obsession of Tik -Tok………. take my apology in advance). It is very interesting to know that some of the strangest and most terrifying creature in the universe lie beneath the surface of our own planet. Let me introduce you to the most terrifying creatures of the ocean.
Dragon fish:
As the name suggests it is a large fish which actually started its life at the surface of the ocean as a result of its egg being buoyant. Dragon fish are found at a depth of 2 kilometre is capable of producing its own light, using a method, known as bioluminescence. It contains many light producing photophores, but one of them can be found on a barble attached to its lower jaw to attract its Prey for hunting.
Frilled shark:
Frilled Shark inhabits the depths of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Its large body proceeds to swallow its victim whole like a snake. Frilled shark also termed as living fossils.
Vampire squid:
The most distinguished feature of Vampire squid is its large Eyes ( largest eyes of any animals in the World), that Gives approval to live in the depths. Opposite to its name ‘Vampire’, it doesn't suck blood, infact its tentacles barely have suckers at all. The name actually comes from intensely red eyes and clock like webbing.
Big red jellyfish:
It would be very scary to see a jellyfish over 1 metre in length with a slide red coloration ( just opposite to a fascinating scene I watched in movie LIFE OF PIE where luminescent of multiple jellyfish drags you to fantasy world ). The tentacles of this deep sea jellyfish makes a series of fleshy ‘feeding arms’, to capture its prey.
Giant squid:
The Giant squid has for centuries been a thing of legend. it found deep beneath the sea surface, mostly attacked by Sperm Whale, which is why Sperm Whales are only real Predator of Giant Squid. In fact the two are famous for their deep sea battles and their carcasses are often times found bearing the marks of mortal combat on their bodies .
Pacific black dragon:
Every creature of the earth have their own speciality. What do they eat? Where do they live? and How do they behave with their entourage? make them surpassing. Pacific black Dragon proofing it well. Being a deep sea Predator most of its Prey are bioluminescent, which is why its stomach specially designed to reduce or prevent light from radiation.
As we know, over 70% of Earth's surface is covered by ocean and we only know 3% of Underwater ( need to keep digging ).
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