The holotype (original specimen) of Leucoraja longirostris .
The skate is found in deep waters and it’s not clear how fisheries might threaten the species.
Icebergs floating in the ocean near Svalbard, an Arctic island chain on the edge of Norway’s proposed exploitation zone.
(Christopher Michel/Flickr)
Norway has become the first nation on earth to allow deep-sea mineral exploration. But opening this industry could put Norway in murky legal waters.
Crab on polymetallic nodules.
NOAA Ocean Exploration
Deep sea metallic nodules could help us shift to clean energy. But we don’t know how much damage it will do to ecosystems
Novels about underwater adventures offer a glimpse at oceanic life.
fotograzia via Getty Images
The recent tragedy of the Titan submersible bore striking parallels to one of the most widely read novels about life at sea.
OceanGate Expeditions/AP
Deep underwater, the Titan submersible would have been crushed in less than a second once a defect cracked the hull.
Images of the snailfish seen at the Izu-Ogasawara Trench.
University of Western Australia
The snailfish was recently found living at depths believed physically impossible.
Caladan Oceanic
The discovery of the deepest fish in a Japanese trench raises the question, what else is out there? But before the mind leaps to all things dark and spooky, take a fresh look at life in the deep sea.
A large robot, loaded with sensors and cameras, designed to explore the ocean twilight zone.
Marine Imaging Technologies, LLC © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
The ocean twilight zone could store vast amounts of carbon captured from the atmosphere, but first we need a 4D monitoring system to ensure ramping up carbon storage does no harm.
Alan Jamieson
The idea we know more about the Moon than the deep sea is seductive – but it’s 70 years out of date.
Antarctic hydrothermal vents.;
MARUM, Bremen Germany
Among the dozens of endangered species, is a spiky snail named after The Clash lead singer, Joe Strummer.
Lough Hyne Marine Nature Reserve, West Cork, Ireland.
Valerio Micaroni
In Lough Hyne’s shallows, animals and plants thrive that would otherwise be found in the ocean’s depths.
Indonesian Navy/EPA
Rescuers have released photos of the submarine wreckage, found more than 800 metres deep. What happens now?
Meet Ireland’s coral: this photo was taken 800 metres below the waves.
Aaron Lim
But these ‘cold-water coral’ are threatened by accelerating sea currents.
A rockfish hides in a red tree coral in the deep sea.
Geofflos
Here’s how microplastics from your clothes end up in the deep sea.
The submersible will allow scientists to film the seabed and take samples.
NEKTON
Unless we know what is in the ocean, we can’t protect the biggest part of the planet.
The interior of a replica 1930 Bathysphere, as used by scientist William Beebe and engineer Otis Barton to explore the oceans depths.
Dominic Lipinski/PA Images
Almost a decade before the moon landings, humans reached the lowest point on Earth’s surface.
Deep-sea mining could open a new industrial frontier in the world’s oceans.
Christian Gloor/flickr
Companies are developing technologies to mine the deep sea, but environmental regulations have yet to be finalized.
Anglerfish have an enlarged fin overhanging their eyes and their mouth that acts as a lure – much like bait on a fisherman’s line.
Shutterstock
We know very little about the deep sea and how its inhabitants, including anglerfish, will respond to change. In fact, more people have walked on the Moon than have been to the bottom of the ocean.
Angler fish haunt the deep seas.
Shutterstock.
The pressure in the deepest part of the ocean can be 1,000 times greater than the pressure we experience at sea level – but creatures that live and visit there have some very special features.
Inside a snailfish.
Newcastle University / Natural History Museum, London
These ‘snailfish’ look too fragile to exist several miles below the waves.