Colonies of clams, bacterial mats resembling layers of ice, and entire fields of tube worms - these are just some of the examples of unusual and extreme life that the expedition recorded in the darkest depths of the ocean.
A research team led by Chinese scientists has descended to ocean trenches in the northwest Pacific Ocean, reaching depths of more than 9.000 meters.
There they photographed and filmed previously unseen scenes of life in extreme conditions.
For comparison, before this expedition, the deepest recorded marine vertebrate was a snailfish, recorded at a depth of 8.336 meters in an ocean trench off the coast of Japan in 2023.
New discoveries, which provide insight into previously unexplored ecosystems, have been published in a prestigious scientific journal. Nature.
- New robot explores the ocean by 'touching'
- Which is why the oceans are becoming more acidic, and fish are migrating more often
- Why are the oceans getting darker?
Although it was already known among scientists that life existed at these extreme depths, researchers from this expedition emphasize that the diversity of animals they saw through the submarine windows was incredible.
During the mission, the scientific expedition traveled more than 2.500 kilometers, exploring ocean trenches at depths between 5.800 and 9.533 meters.
They traveled in the Fendouje submarine, which can operate at depths greater than 10.000 meters for several hours.
The team, led by scientists from the Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, discovered what they describe as “thriving communities” of deep-sea organisms.
"It's exciting - especially for a deep-sea scientist - to go to a place that humans have never explored before," Xiaotong Peng, one of the lead researchers, told BBC News.
Scientists photographed and recorded scenes that resembled entire fields of marine life, dominated by various species of tube worms and mollusks.
These animals survive in complete darkness, under the immense pressure of the ocean depths.
Since sunlight does not reach these layers, life here does not rely on photosynthesis but on chemical processes.
Chemicals like hydrogen sulfide and methane emerge from faults, cracks in the Earth's crust, and trigger what's called chemosynthesis, the process by which organisms convert chemical energy into food.
Researchers have recorded organisms they believe have never been seen before.
In future studies, they hope to discover how the bodies of these, as they call them, chemosynthetic creatures manage to convert these chemicals into energy.
"Also, they must have some kind of mechanism to survive this extreme pressure," added Dr. Megrad Du, also a team member from the China Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering.
"That's another important question that we have yet to find an answer to," she notes.
- 'Nemo' shrinks due to warming oceans - alarm bell
- The oceans are record warm, the consequences for the planet are dire, scientists say
These findings call into question long-standing assumptions about the possibility of life surviving at such extreme depths and under such pressures.
Rather than being rare, isolated individuals, the research suggests that these animal communities are actually widespread in the deepest parts of the ocean.
Professor Andrew Sweetman, a senior scientist at the Scottish Marine Science Association, told BBC News that the discovery shows how entire methane-based ecosystems can exist in the deepest layers of the ocean.
And what is it like to descend into such dark, remote depths?
"It might seem scary to some, but I always encourage students - look out the window at the bottom of the sea. You will be inspired," Du told BBC News.
BBC is in Serbian from now on and on YouTube, follow us HERE.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube i Viber. If you have a topic suggestion for us, please contact bbcnasrpskom@bbc.co.uk
Bonus video:
