#deep-sea

#deep-sea

The discovery represents a significant find in the study of the deep ocean, the largest ecosystem on the planet but one that is inhospitable to humans and remains largely unexplored. During a 2023 expedition aboard the E/V Nautilus, scientists using the remotely operated vehicle Hercules spotted a fragment of sunken wood resting off the remote Johnston Atoll. As they drew closer, they found a thriving community that included a large population of strange limpets - oval, pale, and thick-shelled, with a distinctive arched profile.

Early this year, Spanish marine research organization Condrik Tenerife shared what may be the first recorded footage of a black seadevil anglerfish in daylight, near the ocean's surface. The toothy species, famous for its bioluminescent lure, typically spends its entire life navigating darkness thousands of feet below sea level-which lent this particular anglerfish's ascent a sort of heartwrenching magic, despite the fact that she likely made the trip due to stress or illness.

Ever since I discovered the mating dynamics of the deep-sea anglerfish, where the male fuses with the female, and how closely this mirrors some disturbing human relationship patterns, I have been chewing over the idea that everything that exists in our unconscious also exists in the ocean. From the methodical violence of sharks, to dolphins who mourn their dead and jellyfish whose pulsating contractions remind me of my labour,

As we face accelerated threats to the deep ocean—from climate change to potential mining and resource exploitation—this limited exploration of such a vast region becomes a critical problem for both science and policy.