The bottom of our planet’s oceans remain a dark and mysterious place, but recently scientists have made a sweeping discovery about the depths below. According to a recent study, once you dive past a depth of 14,436 feet, or just over 2-and-a-half miles, the creatures who dwell there change dramatically.
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00:00 The bottom of our planet's oceans remain a dark and mysterious place, but recently
00:08 scientists have made a sweeping discovery about the depths below.
00:12 According to a recent study, once you dive past a depth of 14,436 feet, or just over
00:18 2.5 miles, the creatures who dwell there change dramatically.
00:22 The sea is known for its shells, the remnants of mollusks which have since died and vacated.
00:26 But below that line you won't find any of those hard-shelled creatures.
00:29 Instead you will only see soft-bodied ones.
00:32 The researchers say this likely has to do with a lack of mineral deposits at those extreme
00:36 depths, something which needs to be bioavailable for creatures to grow such exoskeletons.
00:41 With the researchers writing quote "This overlooked heterogeneity, stemming from geochemical
00:45 and climatic forcing, has crucial implications for future ecological and macroecological
00:50 research in abyssal communities."
00:52 Adding that this could provide some crucial data points for new conservation strategies.
00:56 But despite all of the creatures having soft bodies, that isn't to say the ocean floor
01:00 lacks biodiversity.
01:02 While investigating the bottom of the ocean, the research team catalogued some 50,000 deep
01:07 sea dwellers.
01:08 [music]