Hello From the Depth of Mexico Gulf – See Astonishing Photos of Marine Habitats Found in Deep Sea
National Oceanic and Atmospheric scientists team explored the deepest parts of the Gulf of Mexico using a mix of remote-operated submersibles and shore-based instruments. They brought back stunning images of previously unexplored areas.
Deep sea life
Source: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Gulf of Mexico 2017
Over dozens of dives, NOAA’s submersibles brought back images of deep-water creatures that had seldom been observed before. Here, the coiled tip of a bamboo coral is pictured growing out of the sediment on the seafloor, thousands of feet below the surface.
Source: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Gulf of Mexico 2017
In this image, you can see a tiny snake star, surrounded by the spiny arms of larger sea stars coiled among the branches of a coral, at a depth of 1,315 feet.
Source: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Gulf of Mexico 2017
This probably isn’t like any lobster you’ve ever seen. A deep-sea squat lobster hangs out on a coral fan.
Source: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Gulf of Mexico 2017
These two lobsters are completely blind due to their pitch-black surroundings. These ones evidently share a little burrow, but scientists aren’t exactly sure why.
Source: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Gulf of Mexico 2017
A long-nosed chimaera fish drops by one of NOAA’s submersibles on a dive. Many of the researchers said this was the first time they’ve ever seen one.
Source: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Gulf of Mexico 2017
A craggy outcrop on the seafloor supports a dense community of sea stars.
Source: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Gulf of Mexico 2017
A colonial tuscarorid phaeodarean is pictured here feeding on marine snow — the nutrients (including fish excrement) that drop from shallow waters higher in the water column — at a depth of 2,300 feet.
Source: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Gulf of Mexico 2017
This grumpy-looking cusk eel is pictured at a depth of 1,585 feet.
Source: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Gulf of Mexico 2017
This is a sea toad, found hanging out on the sea floor at a depth of 2,428 feet. The humble sea toad, which can move across the ocean-floor sediment with feet-like fins, had its star turn in Blue Planet II.
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