The deep seas hold creatures so strange that they can rightly be called monsters. While they may not hold all the man-eating sea monsters of old legends, the crushing pressures of the deep sea, combined with temperatures far below the freezing point of at the ocean’s surface, and the total lack of sunlight have driven life to find new ways to survive and adapt. Many of the strange creatures of the deep ocean have yet to be discovered as our time spent exploring the deepest part of the ocean can be measured in hours.
Yet, in the short time we have spent combing the ocean’s depths, we have found amazing creatures that are like nothing else on Earth, and indeed like nothing we could have ever imagined. The environment of the deep sea is so far removed from that of our surface world, that one could hardly tell the weird and mysterious creatures found there from what we might expect to find on alien worlds. The Barreleye fish shown in this video even appears to have a glassy space helmet covering its head. The barreleye’s head is transparent and its eyes are embedded deep inside, completely enclosed under the dome. Watch this video of one of the only living specimen’s ever captured on film:
Other strange creatures of the deep sea create their own light in the darkest. The vampire squid seems to carry a torch in each of its tentacles and creates a confusing swirl of lights when threatened. Watch the amazing pyrotechnic display of the vampire squid in this video:
Other weird deep sea creatures are left-over relics of ancient times that are little changed from their ancestors millions of years ago. Given a side by side comparison of an ancient Nautilus and a modern one, it is unlikely any could tell them apart. Using controlled buoyancy to conserve energy, the Nautilus is one of the most efficient swimmers in the oceans. Watch this amazing creature in this video:
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Comments
Hey there,
Thanks so much for posting this! I really enjoyed watching these videos. It reminds us that strange creatures that we've only imagined really, really exist in the oceans. I run a website--hosted by blogger--okay, a blog, called Aquabeasties, www.aquabeasties.blogspot.com
I'll be posting about your posting of this. Thanks so much--
--Sam
These are awesome creatures. I love ocean life.
tell me mor tell me mor
please
ocean live weird and wacky.
tell me more.
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