Although more than seventy per cent of the Earth's surface is covered by water, the deep ocean remains one of the least (0) UNDERSTOOD environments on the planet. Scientists often out that we have better maps of the Moon than of the seabed, and, with each new expedition, creatures previously unknown to science continue to be to light.
Part of the difficulty is purely practical. Pressures at depths of several kilometres are enough to crush conventional equipment, and the absence of sunlight makes traditional photography almost useless. As a result, researchers have had to heavily on remotely operated vehicles, which can take years to design and millions of euros to
What these missions reveal, however, often challenges our assumptions about life on Earth. Around hydrothermal vents, entire ecosystems flourish without any input from sunlight, on chemical energy instead. Fish with transparent heads, squid with enormous eyes and bacteria that can extreme temperatures are all examples of how organisms adapt to conditions that would seem intolerable elsewhere.
Given the potential value of such discoveries — from new medicines to a better understanding of climate change — pressure is growing on governments to deep-sea exploration as a scientific priority.