Let us travel to the Great Barrier Reef on the Asian Pacific coast in Australia. There we will furrow your brow trying to spot land, and fine yourself completely immersed into a land of clear, cerulean stained waters. The waters here are warmly toasted by the sun’s powerful beams, making its surfaces teem with different activity (snorkeling, scuba diving, and sailing). This picture perfect, postcard-worthy scene wouldn’t surprise anyone really, because everyone has seen pictures of Hawaiian paradises, or the towering palm trees on Fiji Islands or the Blue Lagoon on the Maltese, Mediterranean coast. However, beyond the friendly Hawksbill sea turtles, flourishing bouquets of and the fanning army of red-bellied minnows, 1000 meters below the comforting surface, lays the deep, dark unknown. Descending deeper and deeper into this body of water, one is furthers his/herself from the sun, and its light; the pressure, similar to being confined into a small, tin box, becomes unbearable, due to the science of water molecules. This place is too cold and too dark, for human beings to survive in; scuba diving equipment doesn’t even possess the technology to withstand the suffocating pressure, in this part of the ocean. A place where it never reaches above freezing point does distinguish itself from the postcard scenes, we all know and love, bearing this section of ocean, called the Deep Abyss.
Here, only special kinds of fish have learned to live in these freezing waters; their physical characteristics and survival abilities seem to be best described as unique. Since their home being pitch-black, over time, these creatures have sharpened their sense of smell and hearing. A creature in this particular type of setting understands that daily food is not a guarantee; these two senses serve the utmost importance.
There are a handful of creatures, living in the Abyss, which produce chemically visible lights on their bodies. This could be a good or bad thing, depending on the perspective of which one is acting from. This may be bad for prey, such as the case of a zealous zooplankton, or serve as a good warning for them.
With no sun to support vegetation life, everything living in the Abyss is a carnivore. Dead, or rotten fish carcasses float down from the surfaces, and settle down on the sea bed. This activity serves to feed some fish, in this competitive, opaque land of survival.
Probably the most popular example of deep sea fish is the Humpback Anglerfish (also shown in the Pixar movie, Finding Nemo). The Anglerfish has an antenna on the center of its head, and at the very end of this antenna is a light. This light is for finding prey to feed on. The Anglerfish is also one the most vicious hunters in the deep sea; its fang-like teeth are so large that they do not fit in its mouth (swims around with a protruding jaw).
(Anglerfish)
Another fish that was designed to deal with the challenges of living in the Abyss is the Tripod Fish. A Tripod fish has long stem-like phalanges, which act as sensors. These sensors can increase the chances for this creature to find food.
(Tripod Fish)
One last example of a deep sea creature is the Black Swallower Fish. Food is very scarce in the deepest part of the ocean, and the fact that there is not one ounce of light, doesn’t make life down here any easier. This fish was designed to adjust to life in the black ocean by having a large stomach. This fish stores the food it consumes, just like how a camel stores water in its hump. This is a helpful and convenient adaptation.
(Black Swallower)
*Some other abyssal oceanic points are located in the Western Pacific (Mariana Trench near Guam), and any point in the Pacific Ocean (this is the deepest ocean in the world).
Sources:
Sea Grant Organization – University of Rhode Island
World Atlas
What facinating information. I have always been facinated with marine life, and as a child, wanted to become a marine biologist. Thank you for sharing such interesting facts about the Deep Abyss.
ReplyDeleteGreat posting, very interesting facts. you can see in your writing you enjoy the subject.
ReplyDeleteThank you kindly, my dear classmates! I appreciate your positive feedback ^_^ Heather, marine biology is so cool, we have the same interests :) Weiman, thank you so much - I am very intrigued by marine biology, I am glad you enjoyed this :) These creatures are really weird, but it is so cool how they have adapted to surviving in blackness.
ReplyDeleteMarine Biology is very interesting I use to enjoy the discovery channel when it dealt with underwater creatures.It's basically another world.
ReplyDeleteThis has always been so interesting to me. Several years ago, my boyfriend at the time painted a picture of the angler fish. I had never seen anything like it. Very informative.
ReplyDeleteThis is very informative about fishes and their way of survival in the ocean.
ReplyDelete