Thank-you Snailfish

Lipari-m Snailfish

Sometimes I get so linked in to doing things that I forget to stop and enjoy the show. This October OceanLab and University of Tokyo sent a camera down to one of the world’s deepest trenches and came up with some fantastic film footage of a group of snailfish feeding on camera bait. These critters get to be about 120 mm – or 6″ long and are “sociable and active – possibly even families.”

An article link is here: http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/news/story.aspx?id=194

The footage is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv1sflwcnxQ

These little guys have tiny eyes – probably just suitable to collect bioluminescent light in an otherwise pitch-dark abyss. They were filmed at 7700 meters deep – over 25,000ft. The pressures here are over 700 atmospheres, or about 10,000 psi. While the pressures are hell on stuff coming down from the surface, these abysmal animals are pressure-neutral to their surroundings, so the pressures don’t squish them.

Thus just gets me thinking about what a fabulous planet we live on, with so many stunning mysteries to explore. Something to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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