[ Featuring Nino Morro ]
[Ocean and wave sounds]
As the capsule descends, darkness slowly ensues, with only tiny flickers of light coming from the surface. Most of the creatures living here have evolved to live on the edge of darkness. Bulbous eyes emerge from the gloom to try to catch whatever light they can.
Below one and a half thousand metres there is no sunlight, which makes hunting extremely difficult. This is why many of the fish down here have big mouths: ready to latch on to any unsuspecting victims that might pass by. Bioluminescent organisms are capable of producing light, although most don t glow continuously, because making light takes extra energy and can attract predators. Most marine creatures are largely made up of water, which is un-compressible, meaning they are not crushed by the sheer volume of pressure.
So how can anything survive?
It is only when you dive below six thousand metres, the pressure is so great cells become destroyed. This has been known for some time, but scientists want to understand how organisms can reproduce in such a hostile environment. This secret world is called the Hadal Zone. Life here should be impossible ...but is it?
The capsule descends to almost five miles below the surface. Temperatures here are just above freezing. A desolate, alien landscape slowly emerges in the perpetual darkness, illuminated only by the searchlights. At these depths, finding a meal is no easy task.
The pod releases some bait in the hope of attracting life. A short while later some small arthropods appear to feast on the bait. The hope is that these crustacean-like animals will attract bigger creatures, but no larger predators have ever been seen at these depths. As time ticks away, and with over twenty hours of footage, the exploration team is on the brink of giving up hope until finally ...success!
The team catch a rare glimpse of a snail fish. Named after its shallow-water cousin, this gelatinous creature is no more than 30cm long. She makes the most of a free meal, and a short while later, there is nothing left but bone.
With great discovery, raise more unanswered questions.
How? Why? Can these fish flourish in such precarious barren lands?
[Musical outro]
