Dark Deep Ocean Floor

Scientists are flocking to florida s gulf coast for a glimpse of a mysterious 425 feet deep blue hole on the ocean floor.

Dark deep ocean floor.

The glowing mystery hole about 155 feet below the water s surface. Little or no light penetrates this part of the ocean and most of the organisms that live there rely for subsistence on falling organic matter produced in the photic zone for this reason scientists once assumed that life would be sparse. The deep ocean is dark very cold and has tremendous pressure from the overlying water. At depths of over 10 000 feet and covering 70 of the ocean floor abyssal plains are the largest habitat on earth.

In fact there have been more missions into space than journeys down to the greatest depths of the oceans. But despite their name these plains are not uniformly flat. Deep sea exploration has revealed varied landscapes which include volcanoes seamounts hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. Sunlight does not penetrate to the sea floor making these deep dark ecosystems less productive than those along the continental shelf.

See how these deep sea denizens make the most of their deep dark home. The ocean is divided into three zones based on depth and light level. Sunlight entering the water may travel about 1 000 meters 3 280 feet into the ocean under the right conditions but there is rarely any significant light beyond 200 meters 656 feet. Deep sea creatures photos adaptation is the name of the game when you live thousands of feet below the water s surface.

The deep sea is a relatively mysterious and unknown part of the earth as only about 1 of the ocean floor has been explored by humans. Although some sea creatures depend on light to live others can do without it.