Oceans make up two-thirds of the Earth’s surface, but mankind has only explored five percent of them. So what mysteries are waiting to be uncovered in the other 95%?
A team of scientists from America’s Ocean Exploration Team give us a good idea after delving into the relatively unknown Puerto Rico Trench, the deepest trench in the Atlantic at 8,800 meters and extending over 800 kilometres.
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“It’s pretty amazing that we haven’t been there yet, exploring really deep depths,” said Andrea Quattrini, the expedition’s science co-lead.
Sending out a cutting-edge remotely operated vehicle (ROV) on dives of up to 20,000 feet, nothing could have prepared the team for the wonders they encountered.
The ROV gathered footage of numerous deep-sea dwelling animals that are either rarely seen, or have never been seen at all. This included 100 species of fish, 50 species of deepwater corals, and hundreds of other invertebrates.
The project enlisted the help of hundreds of experts around the world who logged into an internet chatroom to identify the creatures.
“There will be a starfish expert or a jellyfish expert or a coral expert and so they’re all working with us together, which is very unique,” said Quattrini.
