A Chinese research team has captured remarkable life forms on film and video at a depth of over 9 kilometers. The researchers observed, among other things, fields full of tubeworms. This is the deepest expedition to date in which life has been observed.
The research team dove in a manned submarine into the trenches of the northwestern Pacific Ocean. Besides the tubeworms, they saw mussel beds and mats of bacteria that looked like ice. These animals live in complete darkness and face enormous pressure so deep below the water’s surface.
The researchers, affiliated with the Institute of Deep Sea Science and Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, traveled more than 2,500 kilometers during their expedition and explored several trenches from 5,800 to 9,533 meters deep. Their submarine could operate for hours at depths of more than 10 kilometers.
During their expedition, the researchers suspected they had observed several species that had not been seen before. They published their findings on Wednesday in the scientific journal Nature.
“It’s exciting – especially for a deep-sea scientist – to go to a place that hasn’t been explored by humans,” said one of the lead researchers, Xiaotong Peng, to the BBC. The researchers speak of “flourishing communities” of creatures. The scientists hope to discover in future research how the creatures manage to survive in the deep sea.
Scientists already assumed that there was life so deep in the sea, but the researchers still describe the abundance of animals they saw as “amazing”. The previous time life was recorded at great depth, it was a snailfish. This fish was recorded in 2023 at a depth of 8,336 meters, in a trench off the Japanese coast. That fish can be seen in the video below.
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