Questions about deep sea marine life.

The_Absolute

I wonder how marine life can withstand the enormous pressures at the bottom of the ocean without being crushed. The deepest part of the ocean, the Mariana's trench in the pacific, which is about roughly 30,000 feet deep, does have some rather strange-looking sea life inhabiting it.

How do these fish survive such deep-sea pressure?

Has anyone ever dived to the bottom of the Mariana's trench? Are there even any submersible vehicles that exist that can go that deep without being crushed into oblivion?

turbo-1

If you take a critter that lives near the surface, and submerge it in a trench, it will be crushed. What about critters that emerged and evolved at great depths? Can you guess what will happen to them if you take them to shallow depths?

The_Absolute

Are there any submersible vehicles that can go that deep (the floor of the Mariana's trench) without being crushed into oblivion? An ROV (remotely operated vehicle) perhaps? If so, have there been any endeavors down there?

turbo-1

The oceans are a perfect place to deploy vehicles that are remotely guided. There are too few manned submersibles and it is extremely expensive to deploy them with their "shepherd" ships and crews. We could get a lot more bang for the buck with standardized, mass-produced remotes. Then when something interesting is found, you send down remotes with more specialized implements or perhaps a manned submersible if the depths do not forbid it.

Edit: And yes, you should Google on "Trieste" regarding depth limitations.

DanP

Some cool links:

http://people.whitman.edu/~yancey/deepsea.html

http://www.lifesci.ucsb.edu/~biolum/

http://www.mbari.org/

Monique

what a terrible layout for a website. The content may be brilliant, but what a poor declaration of taste

DanP

I forgot the great cephalopod page (not directly related to deep sea)

http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/

Maybe he is trying to make a statement ? Kinda like:

http://socialitelife.celebuzz.com/ar...e_for_peta.php