How can deep-sea creatures bodies withstand such huge pressures

A.� As�SuperBunny replies the answer lies in the water itself. Most deep-sea creatures have jelly-like skin, rather than anything rigid, that consists mainly of water and cannot be crushed, cushioning the animal’s body.

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Q.� What defines the deep sea

A.� Deep sea, which covers around two thirds of the earth's surface yet remains the least known habitat on earth, includes anything below 1,000 metres below sea level.

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For centuries this cold dark habitat was assumed to hold little life. However as under water vessels were developed that could explore and survive the deep the wealth of life, some of which is the most bizarre on earth, began to be appreciated.

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Q.� How deep is the deepest sea

A.� The greatest ocean depth is over 11,000 meters below sea level.

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Q.� And how strong is the pressure at this depth

A.� Pressure is described in terms of atmospheres. One atmosphere being equal to the weight of the earth’s atmosphere at sea level, a weight of around 14 pounds per square inch. In other words, at sea level each square inch of your skin is being subjected to a force of 14 pounds.

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The pressure increases about one atmosphere for every 10 meters of water depth. So at the deepest point in the sea the pressure is 1,100 times greater than that experienced at sea level.

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Q.� How many creatures live in the deep sea

A.� Possibly almost ten times as many species as live on land. The deep sea supports the majority of animal life.

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Q.� Only animal life

A.� Yes, it’s too dark to support plants, which need sunlight to survive.

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Q.� So what does everyone eat

A.� Food is scarce and so everything is part of the food chain. On land the bottom of the food chain begins with the energy converted from sunlight. In the deep sea either marine snow, the fragments of plants and animals that fall from above, occupies this slot, or bacteria, which thrive on sulphides from hydrothermal vents on the seabed.

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Do have a question about how something survives in apparently inhospitable habitats

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by Lisa Cardy