It's Life, Jim, But Not as We Know It

The biggest habitat on Earth is the least explored. So says Scripps Professor Greg Rouse, in an interview with Science Daily.

That habitat lies between 3,280 and 13,120 feet beneath the surface of the ocean. That is, as much as two miles down.

In that inky, freezing darkness, you’d think things would be relatively lifeless. But not so. In fact, researchers are discovering, the huge undersea habitat is loaded with life — plenty of life.

The strange creatures of the extreme deep aren’t even rare; many are quite common. They just happened to be unknown to … us. Until the recent development of remotely operated submersibles capable of operating in water as deep as 12,140 feet.

Among the newer discoveries are a group of semi-transparent swimming worms in the annelid phylum. They’re not especially big (no more than 3.6 inches long), and they’re certainly not rare. What they are is weird. One species, which goes by the name of Swima bombiviridis — the Green Bomber — can actually drop greenish, bioluminescent bits of itself to frighten away potential predators.

Scientists at Scripps, NOAA and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute are all excited about their recent finds — and equally excited about what they're likely to find next. Said Dr. Rouse: "With fairly limited time on submersible vehicles, mainly off California, we've picked up seven new species. It goes to show that we have much more exploration ahead and who knows what else we'll discover?"

Photo courtesy of NOAA