Deep Sea Creatures

by
Sophie Walker

The ocean is very deep and very wide. Most people only see the surface, where the sun shines bright and the water is blue. But if you travel down, down, down, the world changes. Scientists call the deepest part the “Midnight Zone.” Here, there is no sunlight at all. It is a world of total darkness and mystery.

Since there is no sunlight, plants cannot grow in the deep sea. So, how do creatures find their way? Many animals have special tools to help them survive. Hydro, a small exploration robot, is designed to handle the freezing temperatures. In the deep, the water is just a few degrees above freezing, and the pressure is strong enough to crush a car!

Have you ever seen a firefly? In the deep sea, many fish create their own light. This is called bioluminescence. Elara watches as a jelly-like creature drifts past. It glows with shimmering neon pulses of blue and green. These lights are used to talk to friends, hide from enemies, or trick dinner into coming closer.

One of the most famous deep-sea dwellers is the Anglerfish. It has a built-in fishing rod on its head! At the tip of the rod is a glowing bulb full of bacteria. Small fish are curious about the light and swim toward it. Hydro uses his sensors to track the Anglerfish as it waits patiently in the dark for its next meal.

Not all deep-sea fish are big. The Hatchetfish is only a few inches long. It is shaped like the head of a hatchet and is very thin. Elara notices that it has silver scales that act like mirrors. It also has lights on its belly that match the faint light coming from above. This makes the Hatchetfish almost invisible to predators swimming below it.

Life at the bottom of the ocean is very slow. Food is hard to find, so animals save their energy. Hydro records data on the Tripod Fish. This strange fish has three long fins that it uses like stilts to stand on the muddy ocean floor. It waits for tiny shrimp to float by, catching them with its fins extended like a net.

For a long time, people thought the Giant Squid was a myth. We now know these massive creatures are real! A Giant Squid can grow to be 43 feet long — that is as long as a school bus! Its eyes are the size of basketballs, which helps it see in the dim light. Elara is amazed when she sees a long, suckered tentacle brush past her window.

The Giant Squid has a rival: the Sperm Whale. These whales dive deep into the darkness to hunt the squid. Hydro detects the sounds of a hunt nearby. Although the squid is large, it must use its speed and ink to escape the powerful whale. They have been having these battles in the deep ocean for millions of years.

To explore these depths, Elara and Hydro must work together. The pressure at the bottom of the ocean is 1,000 times higher than at the surface. Special materials like titanium and thick acrylic are needed to keep them safe. Only a few people have ever traveled to the very bottom, a place called the Challenger Deep.

We have explored more of Outer Space than we have of our own deep oceans. Every time scientists like Elara go down in a submarine, they find new species that no one has ever seen before. The deep sea is Earth’s last great frontier, full of glowing lights, giant monsters, and endless secrets waiting to be discovered.