The term deep sea creature refers to organisms that live below the photic zone of the ocean. These creatures must survive in extremely harsh conditions, such as hundreds of bars of pressure, small amounts of oxygen, very little food, no sunlight, and constant, extreme cold. Most creatures have to depend on food floating down from above.
These creatures live in very harsh environments, such as the abyssal or hadal zones, which, being thousands of meters below the surface, are almost completely devoid of light. The water is between 3 and 10 degrees Celsius and has low oxygen levels. Due to the depth, the pressure is between 20 and 1,000 bars. Creatures that live hundreds or even thousands of meters deep in the ocean have adapted to the high pressure, lack of light, and other factors.
Read more about Deep Sea Creature: Barometric Pressure, Lack of Light, Lack of Resources, Deep Sea Research, Deep Sea Creatures in Popular Culture, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words deep, sea and/or creature:
“A deep wooden note
when the wind blows ...”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)
“I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,”
—John Masefield (1878–1967)
“I know, it must have been my imagination, but it makes me realize how desperately alone the Earth is. Hanging in space like a speck of food floating in the ocean. Sooner or later to be swallowed up by some creature floating by.... Time will tell, Dr. Mason. We can only wait and wonder. Wonder how, wonder when.”
—Tom Graeff. Tom Graeff. Young astronomer, Teenagers from Outer Space, after just seeing the invading spaceship through his telescope, and dismissing it (1959)