Episode 11: Yo, What's Going On Down There?

"The sweet surrender of silence/forces me to live alone/locked and loaded/where the hell is peace of mind?/I wait on you inside the bottom of the deep blue sea."

                      -MISSIO, "Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea" 

The Deep Sea

   Lately, I've been weirdly fascinated with the dark depths of the oceans and the creatures that live down there. There are some truly terrifying creatures that swim around down there, and that's not even all of it. They say there's about 80% of the oceans that remain unexplored. EIGHTY PERCENT. Of all the vast knowledge of the waters and all the species of animals that live in them, all that knowledge is only TWENTY PERCENT. 

   So what's down there? The thought both fascinates and terrifies me. There could be even more terrifying, unsightly monsters in those depths that we have no idea about. In fact, the ocean gets so deep that exploration as of now is literally impossible. Pressures get so deep that if we try to go down there, we'll be instantly crushed.

    Are you as terrified as I am about what could be lurking in those forbidden depths? Well, I'm gonna use this blog to talk about the terrifying creatures we *do* know about.

Anglerfish

  You probably know about this one. It's the most well-known deep sea creature. It was even in Finding Nemo. A big fish with a light on its head and giant teeth.

Atolla Jellyfish

  This one can emit light whenever it wants. It does this not to light the way through the darkness, but to attract predators of its predators. As the predator's predator eats the jellyfish's predator, it swims away.

Sea Spider

  Giant spiders that crawl along the sea floor. They have holes in their giant legs that they use to store oxygen.

Fangtooth

   A fish that swallows its prey whole and has teeth so big it can't completely close its own mouth. 

Deep Sea Dragonfish

  Has a curved mouth that makes it look like its constantly smiling. It also has huge fangs, is transparent, and can glow.

Humboldt Squid

  A big squid that can change colors and sometimes engage in cannibalism.

Stargazers

  Though also present in higher sea levels, these fish burrow into the ground until the rest of their body is in the ground and their face is sticking directly up on the surface. They wait until prey swims above and pop out to eat it.

And last, but not least,

A BIG EFFING SQUID.

 The bigfin squid can be up to 24 feet long, and it drags its long, slender tentacles along the ground. It wraps up any prey it feels and carries it up to eat. Just imagine being caught in one of these. And it's thought that we've only seen juveniles of this species - meaning we have no idea what an adult looks like.