Deadly viral pool at the bottom of the ocean will kill anything that swims into it
- In the past week, we have seen scientists discover a new bone-eating creature and a lost continent discovered after 375 years.
But what about a pool at the bottom of the ocean that kills anything near it?
The huge pool of salt water at the bottom of the Red Sea kills anything that swims into it. (YouTube/OceanX)
It's just one more reason to fear the sea.
Back in 2022, scientists discovered a pool at the bottom of the Red Sea, with Professor Sam Purkis at the forefront as a key member of the team that made the terrifying discovery.
Reporting from Unilad, according to the professor, the salt water does not contain oxygen, which means 'any animal that gets lost in the salt water will immediately be stunned or killed'.
Of course, these terrifying pools of salt water on the sea floor are bad news for unpredictable fish.
However, this is in contrast to predators which according to Purkis 'eat unlucky animals'.
Speaking about the University of Miami findings to Live Science, Purkis also said that this discovery could help scientists find out how our planet's oceans formed millions of years ago.
"Our discovery of rich communities of microbes that survive in extreme environments may help trace the limits of life on Earth and can be applied to the search for life elsewhere in our solar system and beyond," he explained.
“Until we understand the limits of life on Earth, it will be difficult to determine whether alien planets can host living things.”
Despite their ugly appearance and the ability to kill anything that comes close, salt water pools are actually rich in biodiversity.
“At these great depths, there is usually not much life on the sea floor.” Purkis continued. “However, saltwater pools are rich oases of life. The thick layer of microbes supports a wide variety of animals."
Purkis and his team made the discovery at a depth of 1,770m using a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV).
He revealed that they discovered the salt water pool during the last five minutes of the ten-hour dive.
Salt water pools not only lack oxygen and are full of deadly levels of salt (causing animals to die if they come into contact with them), but they also contain toxic chemicals such as hydrogen sulfide.
These brine solutions actually salt the animals alive, and researchers have once found crabs in salt water pools that – although they may have been dead for eight years – still had their soft tissues intact.
However, the edges of salt water pools are often lined with shells because the molluscs contain symbiotic chemosynthetic bacteria that utilize the large amounts of methane found in salt water pools and convert it into carbon sugar.
Talking about the deep sea, there are a number of unique facts that you have never heard before.
Illustration of a deep sea atmosphere. (Sindre Bøyum /Unsplash)
1. The Ocean is Deeper than Mount Everest
Although a handful of people have bravely climbed Mount Everest, the highest point on earth, even fewer have descended to the deepest point.
The deepest point of the Mariana Trench is known as Challenger Deep.
The distance from sea level to the bottom of the Challenger Deep is nearly 11 kilometers (7 miles).
If Mount Everest were included in this abyss, it would still be more than a mile from the water's surface.
At these depths, the temperature is always just above freezing, the pressure is more than 1,000 times greater than the temperature at the surface, and many fish and invertebrates that live on the sea floor call it home.
2. Only 3 people have visited the Challenger Deep
Film director James Cameron reached a record depth of 35,756 feet in a solo submarine dive in 2012.
Cameron likely collected data, specimens and imagery that would have been unthinkable in 1960, when the only other explorers to reach the Challenger Deep returned after seeing the mud raised by their bathyscaphe.
3. The Largest Deep Sea Fish Is Called The Greenland Shark
Often confused with the Great White Shark due to its enormous size, reaching 24 feet (7.2 meters) in length and weighing up to 3,100 lbs (1,400 kg)
Greenland sharks have a voracious appetite and will eat anything.
They usually eat eels, lumpfish, flounder, and other small sharks, but they also eat carrion, the flesh of dead animals.
They are also known to eat land animals.
Greenland sharks have been found with the jaws of polar bears, the entire bodies of reindeer, horse bones, and reindeer skins in their stomachs.
Greenland sharks are rarely seen in the wild.
It wasn't until 1995 that scientists were able to take the first images of a Greenland Shark swimming in its natural habitat.
Then in 2003, the first and only video footage showing a Greenland shark swimming was taken.