Monsters of the deep revealed in sea census
November 23, 2009 5:25 PMBizarre sea creatures including an octopod dubbed Dumbo because of his giant ear-like fins, have been found as part of a deep sea census.
The previously unseen creatures live more than a mile beneath the ocean in pitch black conditions.
A total of 5,722 odd species were discovered as part of the Census of Marine Life - which used deep-towed cameras to give us a better picture of what lives in our oceans.
One such critter was the elephant-eared octopod (pictured) which was dubbed Dumbo of the deep - it is a six-foot-long cirrate octopod which was found on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Another was the sea cucumber (below) whcih was found at 2,750 metres in the Northern Gulf of Mexico - I think looking at them we can see why they live in pitch black conditions.
A spokesperson said: "Census of Marine Life scientists have inventoried an astonishing abundance, diversity and distribution of deep sea species that have never known sunlight – creatures that somehow manage a living in a frigid black world down to 5,000 meters (~3 miles) below the ocean waves.
"Revealed via deep-towed cameras, sonar and other vanguard technologies, animals known to thrive in an eternal watery darkness now number 17,650, a diverse collection of species ranging from crabs to shrimp to worms.
"Most have adapted to diets based on meager droppings from the sunlit layer above, others to diets of bacteria that break down oil, sulfur and methane, the sunken bones of dead whales and other implausible foods."
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