The meaning of the Mariana Trench. What is at the bottom of the Mariana Trench
Many people know that the highest point is (8848 m). If you are asked where the deepest point of the ocean is, what will you answer? Mariana Trench– this is the very place we want to tell you about.
But first I would like to note that they never cease to amaze us with their mysteries. The described place has also not yet been properly studied for completely objective reasons.
So, we offer you or, as it is also called, the Mariana Trench. Below are valuable photographs of the mysterious inhabitants of this abyss.
It is located in the western part of the Pacific Ocean. This is the deepest place in the world known to date.
Having a V-shape, the depression runs along the Mariana Islands for 1,500 km.
Mariana Trench on the map
An interesting fact is that the Mariana Trench is located at the junction of the Pacific and Philippine.
The pressure at the bottom of the trench reaches 108.6 MPa, which is almost 1072 times higher than normal pressure.
You probably now understand that due to such conditions, exploring the mysterious bottom of the world, as this place is also called, is extremely difficult. However, the scientific community, since the end of the 19th century, has not stopped studying this mystery of nature step by step.
Mariana Trench Research
In 1875, the first attempt was made to explore the Mariana Trench globally. The British expedition "Challenger" carried out measurements and analysis of the trench. It was this group of scientists who set the initial mark at 8184 meters.
Of course, this was not the full depth, since the capabilities of that time were significantly more modest than today's measuring systems.
Soviet scientists also made enormous contributions to research. An expedition led by the research vessel Vityaz began its own studies in 1957 and discovered that there was life at a depth of more than 7,000 meters.
Until this time, there was a strong belief that life at such depths was simply impossible.
We invite you to look at an interesting scale image of the Mariana Trench:
Diving to the bottom of the Mariana Trench
1960 was one of the most fruitful years in terms of research into the Mariana Trench. The research bathyscaphe Trieste made a record dive to a depth of 10,915 meters.
This is where something mysterious and inexplicable began. Special devices that record underwater sound began to transmit eerie noises to the surface, reminiscent of the grinding of a saw on metal.
The monitors registered mystical shadows that were shaped like fairy-tale dragons with several heads. For an hour, scientists tried to record as much data as possible, but then the situation began to get out of control.
It was decided to immediately raise the bathyscaphe to the surface, as there were reasonable fears that if we waited a little longer, the bathyscaphe would forever remain in the mysterious abyss of the Mariana Trench.
For more than 8 hours, specialists recovered from the bottom unique equipment made of heavy-duty materials.
Of course, all the instruments, and the bathyscaphe itself, were carefully placed on a special platform to study the surface.
Imagine the surprise of the scientists when it turned out that almost all the elements of the unique apparatus, made of the most durable materials at that time, were severely deformed and distorted.
The cable, 20 cm in diameter, lowering the bathyscaphe to the bottom of the Mariana Trench was half sawn through. Who tried to cut it and why remains a mystery to this day.
An interesting fact is that only in 1996 the American newspaper The New York Times published details of this unique study.
Lizard from the Mariana Trench
The German Haifish expedition also encountered the inexplicable mysteries of the Mariana Trench. While plunging the research apparatus to the bottom, the scientists faced unexpected difficulties.
Being at a depth of 7 kilometers under water, they decided to lift the equipment.
But the technology refused to obey. Then special infrared cameras were turned on to find out the cause of the failures. However, what they saw on the monitors plunged them into indescribable horror.
A fantastic giant-sized lizard was clearly visible on the screen, which was trying to chew the bathyscaphe like a squirrel nut.
Being in a state of shock, the hydronauts activated the so-called electric gun. Having received a powerful electric shock, the lizard disappeared into the abyss.
What it was, the fantasy of scientists obsessed with research, mass hypnosis, the delirium of people tired of colossal stress, or just someone’s joke is still unknown.
The deepest place in the Mariana Trench
On December 7, 2011, researchers at the University of New Hampshire sank a unique robot to the bottom of the trench under study.
Thanks to modern equipment, it was possible to record a depth of 10,994 m (+/- 40 m). This place was named after the first expedition (1875), about which we wrote above: “ Challenger Deep».
Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench
Of course, after these inexplicable and even mystical secrets, natural questions began to arise: what monsters live at the bottom of the Mariana Trench? After all, for a long time it was believed that below 6000 meters the existence of living beings is in principle impossible.
However, later studies of the Pacific Ocean in general, and the Mariana Trench in particular, confirmed the fact that at a much greater depth, in impenetrable darkness, under monstrous pressure and water temperatures close to 0 degrees, a huge number of unprecedented creatures live.
Undoubtedly, without modern technology, made of the most durable materials and equipped with cameras unique in their properties, such research would simply be impossible.
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As a general summary, we can confidently say that at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, between 6000 and 11000 meters under water, the following were reliably discovered: worms (up to 1.5 meters in size), crayfish, a variety of amphipods, gastropods, mutants, mysterious, not identified soft-bodied creatures two meters in size, etc.
These inhabitants feed mainly on bacteria and the so-called “corpse rain,” that is, dead organisms that slowly sink to the bottom.
Hardly anyone doubts that the Mariana Trench stores many more. However, people do not give up trying to explore this unique place on the planet.
Thus, the only people who dared to dive to the “bottom of the earth” were the American marine specialist Don Walsh and the Swiss scientist Jacques Picard. On the same bathyscaphe "Trieste" they reached the bottom on January 23, 1960, descending to a depth of 10915 meters.
However, on March 26, 2012, James Cameron, an American director, made a solo dive to the bottom of the deepest point of the World Ocean. The bathyscaphe collected all the necessary samples and took valuable photos and videos. Thus, we now know that only three people have been to the Challenger Deep.
Did they manage to answer at least half of the questions? Of course not, since the Mariana Trench still hides much more mysterious and inexplicable things.
By the way, James Cameron stated that after diving to the bottom he felt completely cut off from the human world. Moreover, he assured that no monsters simply exist at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
But here we can recall the primitive Soviet statement, after a flight into space: “Gagarin flew into space - he did not see God.” From this the conclusion was drawn that there is no God.
Likewise here, we cannot say unequivocally that the giant lizard and other creatures that scientists saw during previous research were the result of someone’s sick imagination.
It is important to understand that the geographical object under study has a length of more than 1000 kilometers. Therefore, potential monsters, inhabitants of the Mariana Trench, could well be located many hundreds of kilometers from the research site.
However, these are just hypotheses.
Panorama of the Mariana Trench on Yandex Map
Another interesting fact may intrigue you. On April 1, 2012, the Yandex company published a comic panorama of the Mariana Trench. On it you can see a sunken ship, water drains and even the glowing eyes of a mysterious underwater monster.
Despite the humorous idea, this panorama is tied to a real place and is still available to users.
To view it, copy this code into the address bar of your browser:
https://yandex.ua/maps/-/CZX6401a
The Abyss knows how to keep its secrets, and our civilization has not yet reached such a development as to “hack” natural mysteries. However, who knows, maybe one of the readers of this article in the future will become the genius who will be able to solve this problem?
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Even as a child, I didn’t really like going deep into the sea. I always felt like someone or something would drag me down into the depths. But then I still didn’t understand that three meters from the shore can hardly be called depth. There are sea depths on our planet that are not even half explored yet. This is exactly the place I will tell you about.
Where is the Mariana Trench located?
The Mariana Trench is also called the Mariana Trench. This place is called the deepest on our planet. Expeditions have shown that the maximum depth of the Mariana Trench is about 11,000 metresditch. Just think about this number. As much as 11 km under water. The deepest point of this trench is called the Challenger Deep.
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This underwater attraction is located in the western Pacific off the coast of Micronesia and Guam. Of course, anyone who wants to visit this place will not be able to. To visit, you will need an expedition prepared according to all the rules.
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First time we heard about this place in 1875. Research at that time showed that the depth of this trench is about 8000 m. Man first went to this depth in 1960.
Mysteries of the Mariana Trench
This incredibly deep place on the planet is, one might say, practically unexplored. No more than 5% of its entire territory has been explored. And already during this time it was noted some surprising facts associated with the Mariana Trench:
- Availability of hot water at a depth of 1.6 km.
- They live in the depths huge amoebas.
- Shellfish live who have adapted to high blood pressure.
- At the bottom there are sources of liquid carbon dioxide.
- In 2011 there were 4 stone bridges were discovered.
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The last person to dive into the Mariinsky Trench was James Cameron. I think many people know or have heard his name. It was he who directed the well-known film “Titanic”. The dive was completed in 2012. Probably, the Mariana Trench still holds many mysteries. Perhaps, after years, or maybe hundreds of years, humanity will be able to fully explore this depth.
Now anyone can watch the fantastic underwater world of the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on our planet, captured on video, or even enjoy a live video broadcast from an 11-kilometer depth. But until relatively recently, the Mariana Trench was considered the most unexplored point on the map of the Earth.
Sensational discovery by the Challenger team
We also know from the school curriculum that the highest point on the earth’s surface is the top of Mount Everest (8848 m), but the lowest is hidden under the waters of the Pacific Ocean and is located at the bottom of the Mariana Trench (10994 m). We know quite a lot about Everest; climbers have conquered its peak more than once; there are enough photographs of this mountain taken both from the ground and from space. If Everest is all in plain sight and does not pose any mystery to scientists, then the depths of the Mariana Trench keep many secrets, because so far only three daredevils have managed to reach its bottom.
The Mariana Trench is located in the western part of the Pacific Ocean; it got its name from the Mariana Islands, which are located next to it. This uniquely deep place on the seabed has received the status of a US national monument; fishing and mining are prohibited here; in fact, it is a huge marine reserve. The shape of the depression is similar to a huge crescent, reaching 2550 km in length and 69 km in width. The bottom of the depression has a width of 1 to 5 km. The deepest point of the depression (10,994 m below sea level) was named “Challenger Deep” in honor of the British ship of the same name.
The honor of discovering the Mariana Trench belongs to the team of the British research vessel Challenger, which in 1872 carried out depth measurements at a number of points in the Pacific Ocean. When the ship found itself in the area of the Mariana Islands, during the next depth measurement a hitch arose: the kilometer-long rope all went overboard, but it was not possible to reach the bottom. At the captain’s direction, a couple more kilometer sections were added to the rope, but, to everyone’s surprise, they were not enough and had to be added again and again. Then it was possible to establish a depth of 8367 meters, which, as it became known later, was significantly different from the real one. However, the underestimated value was quite enough to understand: the deepest place has been discovered in the World Ocean.
It is amazing that already in the 20th century, in 1951, it was the British who, using a deep-sea echo sounder, clarified the data of their compatriots; this time the maximum depth of the depression was more significant - 10,863 meters. Six years later, Soviet scientists began studying the Mariana Trench, arriving in this area of the Pacific Ocean on the research vessel Vityaz. Using special equipment, they recorded the maximum depth of the depression at 11,022 meters, and most importantly, they were able to establish the presence of life at a depth of about 7,000 meters. It is worth noting that in the scientific world at that time there was an opinion that due to the monstrous pressure and lack of light at such depths, there were no manifestations of life.
Dive into the world of silence and darkness
In 1960, people visited the bottom of the depression for the first time. How difficult and dangerous such a dive was can be judged by the colossal water pressure, which at the lowest point of the depression is 1072 times higher than the average atmospheric pressure. The dive to the bottom of the depression using the Trieste bathyscaphe was carried out by US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and researcher Jacques Picard. Bathyscaphe "Trieste" with walls 13 cm thick was created in the Italian city of the same name and was a rather massive structure.
They lowered the submersible to the bottom for five long hours; Despite such a long descent, the researchers spent only 20 minutes at the bottom at a depth of 10,911 meters; it took them about 3 hours to rise. Within minutes of being in the abyss, Walsh and Picard were able to make a very impressive discovery: they saw two 30-centimeter flat fish, similar to flounder, that swam past their porthole. Their presence at such a depth became a real scientific sensation!
In addition to discovering the presence of life at such a mind-boggling depth, Jacques Piccard was able to experimentally refute the then prevailing opinion that at depths of more than 6000 m there is no upward movement of water masses. In terms of ecology, this was a major discovery, because some nuclear powers were planning to bury radioactive waste in the Mariana Trench. It turns out that Picard prevented large-scale radioactive contamination of the Pacific Ocean!
After the dive of Walsh and Picard, for a long period only unmanned automatic bathyscaphes descended into the Mariana Trench, and there were only a few of them, because they were very expensive. For example, on May 31, 2009, the American deep-sea vehicle Nereus reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench. He not only took underwater photography and video at incredible depths, but also took soil samples. The instruments of the deep-sea vehicle recorded the depth it reached at 10,902 meters.
On March 26, 2012, a man again found himself at the bottom of the Mariana Trench; it was the famous director, creator of the legendary film “Titanic,” James Cameron.
He explained his decision to make such a dangerous journey to the “bottom of the Earth” as follows: “Almost everything on the earth’s land has been explored. In space, bosses prefer to send people circling around the Earth, and send machine guns to other planets. For the joys of discovering the unknown, there is only one field of activity left - the ocean. Only about 3% of its water volume has been studied, and what’s next is unknown.”
Cameron made a dive on the DeepSea Challenge bathyscaphe, it was not very comfortable, the researcher was in a half-bent state for a long time, since the diameter of the internal space of the device was only about 109 cm. The bathyscaphe, equipped with powerful cameras and unique equipment, allowed the popular director to film fantastic landscapes of himself deepest place on the planet. Later, together with The National Geographic, James Cameron created the exciting documentary “Challenging the Abyss.”
It is worth noting that during his stay at the bottom of the deepest depression in the world, Cameron did not see any monsters, or representatives of an underwater civilization, or an alien base. However, he literally looked into the eyes of the Challenger Abyss. According to him, during his short journey he experienced sensations indescribable in words. The ocean floor seemed to him not only deserted, but somehow “lunar... lonely.” He experienced a real shock from the feeling of “complete isolation from all humanity.” True, problems with the equipment of the bathyscaphe may have interrupted the “hypnotic” effect of the abyss on the famous director in time, and he rose to the surface among the people.
Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench
In recent years, many discoveries have been made during the study of the Mariana Trench. For example, in bottom soil samples taken by Cameron, scientists found more than 20 thousand of a wide variety of microorganisms. Among the inhabitants of the depression there are also giant 10-centimeter amoebas, called xenophyophores. According to scientists, single-celled amoebas most likely reached such incredible sizes due to the rather hostile environment at a depth of 10.6 km in which they were forced to live. For some reason, high pressure, cold water and lack of light clearly benefited them, contributing to their gigantism.
Mollusks were also discovered in the Mariana Trench. It is unclear how their shells withstand enormous water pressure, but they feel very comfortable at depth, and are located next to hydrothermal vents that emit hydrogen sulfide, which is lethal to ordinary mollusks. However, local mollusks, having demonstrated incredible abilities for chemistry, somehow adapted to process this destructive gas into protein, which allowed them to live where, at first
look, it’s impossible to live.
Many of the inhabitants of the Mariana Trench are quite unusual. For example, scientists discovered here a fish with a transparent head, in the center of which are its eyes. Thus, during the course of evolution, the eyes of the fish received reliable protection from possible injury. At great depths there are many bizarre and sometimes even scary fish; here we managed to capture on video a fantastically beautiful jellyfish. Of course, we don’t yet know all the inhabitants of the Mariana Trench; in this regard, scientists still have many discoveries to make.
There is a lot of interesting things in this mysterious place for geologists. Thus, in a depression at a depth of 414 meters, the Daikoku volcano was discovered, in the crater of which there is a lake of seething molten sulfur right under the water. As scientists say, the only analogue of such a lake known to them is only on Jupiter’s satellite, Io. Also in the Mariana Trench, scientists found the only underwater source of liquid carbon dioxide on earth, called “Champagne” in honor of the famous French
alcoholic drink. There are also so-called black smokers in the depression; these are hydrothermal springs operating at a depth of about 2 kilometers, thanks to which the water temperature in the Mariana Trench is maintained within fairly favorable limits - from 1 to 4 degrees Celsius.
At the end of 2011, scientists discovered very mysterious structures in the Mariana Trench; these are four stone “bridges” stretching from one end of the trench to the other for 69 kilometers. Scientists are still at a loss to explain how these “bridges” arose; they believe that they were formed at the junction of the Pacific and Philippine tectonic plates.
The study of the Mariana Trench continues. This year, from April to July, scientists from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration worked here on the Okeanos Explorer vessel. Their ship was equipped with a remotely controlled vehicle, which was used to film the underwater world of the deepest place in the World Ocean. The video broadcast from the bottom of the depression could be seen not only by scientists, but also by Internet users.
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The deepest part of the world's oceans, the Mariana Trench, is in no hurry to reveal its secrets to humanity. Research here is fraught with great risk, but what we have learned changes many scientists’ ideas about the structure of the world. Particularly impressive are the animals of the Mariana Trench, which have adapted to conditions that theoretically deny any terrestrial forms of existence.
The sight of these creatures causes fear, but most of them are completely harmless. The strange shape of the bodies, luminous organs, the absence of eyes or, conversely, their incredible size are just the result of biological adaptation to a very unfriendly environment.
Life at great depths
The Mariana Trench (trench) was formed about 100,000,000 years ago, as a result of the deformation of the Pacific and Philippine lithospheric plates during convergence. Its length is over 1500 km, and its bottom width ranges from 1 to 5 km. But the most amazing parameter can be called the depth of formation, reaching 10,994 m at its peak point - the “Challenger Deep”. This is 2 km higher than Mount Everest, if it is tipped down at the top.
"Bottom of the Earth"
For a long time it was believed that life in the Mariana Trench was impossible and there was every reason for such assumptions. The mysterious trench was called the “bottom of the Earth” both in the literal and figurative, not entirely flattering sense of the word. The conditions here are indeed far from ideal:
- The pressure at the bottom is 108.6 MPa, which is 1000 times higher than normal. This explains the difficulty of diving into the deepest underwater canyon in the world - even with modern technologies it is difficult to create bathyscaphes that can withstand such a colossal load.
For comparison: normal atmospheric pressure on the earth's surface is 0.1 mPa.
- At a depth of over 1.2 km, absolute darkness reigns; sunlight does not penetrate here. There is no photosynthesis, therefore there are no algae and phytoplankton, without which, as previously thought, the formation of food chains is impossible.
- The water temperature is very low. Theoretically, it should drop to minus values, but it stays at around 1 – 4ºС, thanks to hydrothermal springs known as “black smokers”. Geysers located at a depth of 1.6 km emit jets of mineralized water, heated to 450ºC, but not boiling due to high pressure. It is this that increases the temperature of the adjacent layers, at the same time enriching them with useful substances.
“Black smokers” are dangerous because they actively emit hydrogen sulfide, which is very toxic to most organisms.
- The water in the deeper layers is saltier and saturated with carbon dioxide, which impedes respiration. At the bottom of the depression there is a unique Champagne geyser that releases liquid carbon. The water also contains impurities of mercury, uranium and lead, which, according to scientists, accumulate at great depths.
- The bottom is covered with viscous mucus, which is organic remains descended from the upper layers.
Existence beyond
Despite complete confidence in its absence, the fauna of the Mariana Trench is real and diverse. Fish living at a depth of 6,000 m or more, as well as other representatives of marine fauna, do not feel pressure, since the cells of their bodies are permeable and saturated with water. That is, the load from outside and inside is the same.
A person also does not feel the pressure of the “air column”, thanks to the oxygen dissolved in the blood, although on average each inhabitant of the planet has a load of 2 tons.
This is interesting: when trying to rise to the surface, animals adapted to high pressure die. So far, it has not been possible to deliver at least one inhabitant of the Mariana Trench unharmed to ground laboratories.
Instead of a swim bladder, some deep-sea fish are equipped with fat pads that help redistribute the load in the body, their bones are replaced by light cartilage, and muscles are practically absent. Therefore, the inhabitants of the mysterious abyss move in a unique way and are unlike their relatives living closer to the surface of the sea.
The deepest ocean trench has its own unique food chain. The food source for most local inhabitants is chemosynthetic bacteria, which form colonies near “black” and “white smokers”. Other simple organisms - single-celled foramanifera, living at the very bottom of the trench, process sludge, creating a nutrient medium for mollusks and crustaceans.
The fish pick up pieces of food, which seem to be drawn into a funnel from the upper layers. To do this, they are equipped with a huge mouth, making up more than half of the body, with articulated jaws and sharp, curved teeth. Smaller fish serve as food for larger predators and so on.
The inhabitants of the depths adapt to the complete absence of daylight in different ways. Some of them are equipped with photophores - special organs that emit light. Thus, you can protect yourself from predators, lure prey and distinguish representatives of your species in the dark.
Other fish react to pressure, electrical impulses emitted by other organisms, and odors. Their body is dotted with thin processes with nerve endings that record the slightest changes in the environment.
And now more about the deep-sea inhabitants of the Mariana Trench.
Beauties and Beasts
In 1960, American military officer Don Walsh and oceanographer Jacques Piccard from Switzerland became the first explorers to reach the “bottom of the Earth.” In the armored bathyscaphe "Trieste" they stayed in the "Challenger Abyss" for no more than 20 minutes, but managed to notice a school of flat fish, about 30 cm long. The discovery of "Trieste" became an important scientific confirmation of the habitability of great depths.
Today it is known that the following live in the bottom part:
- giant tube worms, up to 1.5 m long, without a mouth or anus;
- mutated starfish, including brittle stars or darters;
- crabs;
- octopuses;
- sea cucumbers;
- giant poisonous amoebas, about 10 cm in size, while usually these creatures do not exceed 5 mm;
- mollusks that have managed to adapt to water saturated with hydrogen sulfide and high pressure;
- jellyfish;
- fish, including sharks.
Some of these incredible creatures are worth getting to know better.
This beautiful jellyfish of the Hydroid class (order Trachymedusa) lives only at great depths - at least 700 m, and belongs to the nektonic marine fauna. She spends her entire life actively moving, covering long distances in search of zooplankton, which she mainly feeds on.
Bentocodon is small, approximately 2 - 3 cm in diameter, but it has a record number of the thinnest tentacles - up to 1500, which allow it to move very quickly through the water column. Its umbrella, unlike other types of jellyfish, is opaque and reddish in color. Scientists suggest that, in this way, bentocodon “hides” the bioluminescent glow of the planktonic crustaceans it eats, so as not to attract the attention of predators.
A small - only 9 cm in length, a transparent octopus resembling an alien angel, has telescopic vision. A unique feature allows him to see in almost impenetrable darkness, noticing prey in time and moving away from danger.
This is interesting: no other species of octopus has telescopic eyes..
From the name it is clear that Amphitretus prefers the pelagic zone of the ocean - that is, unlike other species of octopuses, it rarely swims to the bottom areas. However, it is capable of descending to a depth of 2000 m, moving not horizontally, but vertically.
The tentacles of the fragile beauty are connected not by a continuous membrane, like other mollusks of its order, but by thin transparent threads, reminiscent of a cobweb.
The deepest-sea octopus - some individuals of this species descend below 7000 m. The mantle of Grimpovthetis is decorated with two processes resembling elephant ears, for which he received the nickname Dumbo, named after the hero of the Disney cartoon of the same name.
The average size of the mollusk is 20–30 cm, but an individual is known that reached a length of 180 cm and weighed about 6 kg.
Despite its extensive habitat, Grimpoteuthys is considered one of the rarest and least studied species of octopus. It was not possible to observe him in natural conditions. It is only known that this baby swallows its prey whole, while other cephalopods first tear it apart with their beak.
Grimpoteuthys looks very unusual, especially when, with its “ears” spread out, it soars in the ocean depths, looking for snails, worms and small crustaceans. Despite the “cosmic” appearance, the octopus Dumbo cannot be called a terrible monster from the Mariana Trench - he is charming in his own way.
Deep sea anglerfish (sea devil)
The fish, as if swimming out of a nightmare, is in fact simply well adapted to life in a 3-kilometer layer of water with a pressure of up to 30 MPa. The “sea devil” is distinguished by pronounced sexual dimorphism. Females are much larger than males: from 5 to 100 cm versus 4 cm, respectively. Representatives of both sexes are colored in camouflage dark brown shades and are covered not with scales, but with growths in the form of plaques and spines.
The predator, reminiscent of an eel or sea snake, belongs to relict species. Its length rarely exceeds 2 m, its body is elongated, and its movements are writhing, like those of reptiles.
The shark feeds on squid and fish, sometimes “diluting” the diet with stingrays and smaller relatives. It hunts around the clock, hiding at the bottom and, like a snake, guarding its prey. Due to the fact that the “living fossil” rarely rises to the surface, preferring to remain at around 1,500 km, the species has managed to survive.
In its sector, where other sharks rarely swim, the “cloaked fish” is considered a formidable predator, however, when rising to the surface, the fish weakens and often dies from pressure drops.
Even among the bizarre animals that live in the Mariana Trench, this fish has an amazing structure. Her head is completely transparent, and her telescopic eyes see through her skin. The elastic membrane covering the upper part of the body is filled with liquid in which the organs of vision “float”, and between them there is a bone membrane where the brain is placed.
The small fish, up to 15 cm in length, feeds mainly on settling zooplankton. This is probably why her green, phosphorescent eyes are directed upward. Some prey, for example, the poisonous stinging cells of jellyfish - cnidocytes or siphonophores, can deprive the macropine of vision; it is not surprising that the fish, in the process of evolution, has developed such an original method of protection.
The fish resembles in shape a simple carpentry tool, from which it gets its name. Unlike other deep-sea inhabitants, it has a beautiful silver-blue color, allowing it to seem to dissolve in the light when the hatchet rises closer to the surface of the ocean.
In the lower part of the abdomen there are photophores that give a greenish glow. However, the most remarkable part of the animal is its huge telescopic eyes, giving it a terrifying and “otherworldly” appearance.
Invisible giants
It seems that creatures of gigantic size must live in the mysterious 11-kilometer abyss in order to withstand incredible pressure from the outside. Hence the information that periodically arises about giant lizards, 20-meter prehistoric megalodon sharks allegedly preserved at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, no less terrible octopuses, and so on.
So far, the deepest-sea fish (lives 8000 m below sea level) – bassogigas – does not even reach 1 m in length.
None of the expeditions that visited the Pacific Trench provided indisputable evidence that monsters unknown to science live at its bottom. Although the German researchers who launched the Haifish bathyscaphe claim that the apparatus was attacked by a huge lizard. And even earlier, in 1996, an American deep-sea robot belonging to the Glomar Challenger vessel tried to explore the depression and was half destroyed by an unknown creature. The monster gnawed through steel ropes and damaged the strong structures of the platform, while emitting unimaginable sounds recorded by instruments.
What secrets does the Mariana Trench keep and who lives there can be seen in the video:
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