The amount of food available decreases the deeper you go. Abyssal menu: whale corpse on a bed of flurrying detritus.The correct answer is 1,000 bar, or more than one metric ton per cm², which is equivalent to the weight of a small car on a postage stamp! Given that the average pressure at the surface of the sea is just over 1 bar, and that it increases by 1 bar every 10 m of depth, what is the pressure exerted in the deep trenches at -10,000 metres? With protruding eyes to capture the little light available, bioluminescence to communicate or hunt, or even to camouflage themselves, and enormous jaws with sharp teeth, the animals living in the extreme depths are often small in size but can be very scary! To live in such extreme conditions, adaptation is essential. Barely 2% of the ocean floor has been explored by submarines. Biological diversity with fascinating potential that remains to be discovered. Ten million - this is the number of species, from bacteria to the largest marine animals, that could exist in the abyss. Living conditions in the depths of the ocean are extreme: no light, very little food, freezing temperatures and overwhelming pressure! However, they do not prevent life from developing there: fish, bacteria, jellyfish, invertebrates, sharks, etc. These corals, which are known as ingenious species, create a new living environment through their activity and serve as a habitat for many other species such as young fish. It's astonishing! Corals can be found in the deep sea. 89% of the objects found are made of plastic, often disposable items such as cutlery. A plastic bag was found in the Mariana Trench. Plastic is everywhere, even down at 11,000 mĮven the depths are not spared from pollution.In 2020, Chinese scientists took their turn diving into the depths of the ocean. The American explorer Victor Vescovo broke the record by descending to 10,928m in 2019. In 2012, James Cameron, director of Titanic and Abyss, also explored the depths of the ocean aboard the Deepsea Challenger. Who are these heroes who delved into the depths of the sea? In 1960, the Swiss Jacques Piccard and the American Don Walsh descended in the bathyscaphe Le Trieste. They dived to a depth of almost 11,000 metres. However, on six occasions, humans have managed to descend to the depths of the ocean, in the Mariana Trench to the east of the Philippines.

10,912 m: the deepest point in the ocean.

How to survive abyssal depths