Abstract
The deep ocean makes up the single, biggest portion of the earth’s biosphere. Of all the habitable space available for living things to occupy, at least 95% is the deep. Beginning at the 200-m mark, with an average depth of around 4 km and a total volume of roughly a billion cubic kilometres, the deep ocean is inconceivably huge. Contrary to scientific theories of the past, it is not a lifeless, empty void. Despite the darkness, cold and extreme pressure, plenty survives and thrives in the deep. Previously unknown species are continually being discovered there and occasionally whole new habitats. So quite simply, if we want to understand life on earth, then we must look into the deep. The more we learn about the deep, the more it becomes clear that this enormous realm is critical for the health of our whole living planet. We are also learning that its remoteness and size are not enough to protect the deep ocean from human impacts.
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Further Reading and Exploration
Scientific Papers
Callum M. Roberts, Julie P. Hawkins, Katie Hindle, Rod.W.Wilson, and Bethan C. O’Leary, Entering the Twilight Zone: The Ecological Role and Importance of Mesopelagic Fishes. (np: Blue Marine Foundation, 2020), https://www.bluemarinefoundation.com/wp-content/
Fauna & Flora International, An Assessment of the Risks and Impacts of Seabed Mining on Marine Ecosystems (Cambridge: Flora and Fauna International, 2020), https://cms.fauna-flora.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/FFI_2020_The-risks-impacts-deep-seabed-mining_Report.pdf
Thomas J. Webb, Edward Vanden Berghe, and Ron O’Dor. Biodiversity's Big Wet Secret: The Global Distribution of Marine Biological Records Reveals Chronic Under-Exploration of the Deep Pelagic Ocean. PLoS ONE. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0010223
Websites
Deep-Sea Biology Society https://dsbsoc.org/
Several Organisations Broadcast Live Feeds of Their Deep-Sea Expeditions
NOAA, Okeanos Explorer https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/livestreams/welcome.html
Ocean Exploration Trust, Nautilus https://nautiluslive.org/
Schmidt Ocean Institute, Falkor https://schmidtocean.org/technology/live-from-rv-falkor/
Organisations Campaigning to Protect the Deep
Deep-Ocean Stewardship Initiative https://www.dosi-project.org/
Deep-Sea Conservation Coalition http://www.savethehighseas.org/
Short film explaining what deep-sea mining is and the threats it poses: In Too Deep: The True Cost of Deep-Sea Mining https://youtu.be/bUCk_THAPNQ
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Scales, H. (2023). The Deep Sea. In: Obaidullah, F. (eds) The Ocean and Us. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10812-9_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10812-9_15
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