![]() ![]() When it comes to mammalian free-divers, the cetaceans beat even the best of us fins down. As pressure builds on the descent, nitrogen dissolves into the tissues of the body so if an ascent is made too quickly the gas forms bubbles affecting everything from the joints and skin, to the heart and brain. The ascent is always the riskiest part of a scuba dive due to the possibility of decompression sickness (DCS) if a diver cannot balance the gases in their body. While it took him 12 minutes to descend, he spent almost 15 hours returning to the surface. The special forces officer and diving enthusiast plunged 332.35m (1,090 ft 4.5 in). In 2015, Ahmed Gabr achieved a record-breaking scuba dive in the Red Sea at Dahab, Egypt. It’s a balancing act scuba divers are all familiar with. According to a study published in 2014, this is a biochemical limit, beyond which fish lack the ability to balance out the destabilising effects of pressure on their bodies. Based on the few specimens that have been caught, scientists predict it is unlikely any snailfish will be found living deeper than 8,200m below the surface. The deep-dwelling fish have a limited range, with different species discovered in different trenches, and they are described as ‘benthic’ meaning they have a close relationship with the seabed. Snailfish ( Liparidae) are widely distributed, but poorly understood, particularly the species encountered at such extreme depths. Three years later, Japanese scientists working with the national broadcaster NHK filmed another snailfish 85 feet deeper in the Trench. At 8,145m (26,722 ft) a pale pink snailfish was attracted to their bait and welcomed into the record books. In 2014, researchers from the University of Hawaii, US, and the University of Aberdeen, UK, teamed up to use an innovative lander to record video footage in the Mariana Trench. So, not all species familiar with the depths can be described as divers.ĭuring this intensive period of exploration, there has also been plenty of competition to find the deepest living fish. Yet these creatures have never been seen outside of this pitch-dark environment where they are perfectly adapted to the harsh conditions. ![]() The video footage from Cameron’s mission revealed there was indeed life at the very bottom of the ocean in the shape of wood-eating crustaceans, camouflaged sea cucumbers and single-celled lifeforms that catch food in their sticky filaments. ![]()
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