It’s interesting to
think that, somewhere out there, there lies an infinitely silent and mysterious
valley, glittering with some of the world’s strangest creatures and far, far
out of our reach. It’s one of the most fascinating places on planet Earth, and one
most of us will never, ever see for ourselves.
Have you ever heard of the Mariana Trench?
This is the tail-end of an underwater, deeply submerged
mountain chain in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It also just so happens to
be the deepest part of any of our great seas at 6.831 mi (10,994 m).
First, the idea of a mountain chain under the sea is, all
by itself, a huge imagination-grabber. If we could explore that chain freely,
what would we find among all these rocks and boulders left untouched by all but
Mother Nature for countless millennia? What caves? What canyons? What wonderful
creatures, plants and landscapes would await our amazement? Okay, maybe it
hasn’t been completely untouched by
mankind. We might also stumble upon the odd shipwreck or two.
But what really gets the imagination stirring is that
idea of the deepest spot of ocean on Earth, far from prying eyes and hands. As
soon as you realize that, you just want to see!
Well, most of us will never have the privilege, but,
fortunately, a few scientists have been able to figure out a way to go look,
and have brought back news.
When they first got there, they were kind of surprised to
find any life at all, given as it’s so far from the sunshine, air and any
sensation of warmth.
Lesson 1: Not everybody needs what we need to survive.
But not only was there life – there was fantastic life!!
Consider these amazing creatures discovered way down there.
Goblin Shark: This is a grey, leathery
guy with a huge, protruding nose roughly the shape of a garden spade. Wonder
what he needs that for?
Frilled Shark: This guy looks a bit Loch
Ness-like (in the face, anyway), and he has about 300 teeth in 25 rows!
Telescope Octopus: This guy is not much
different than a lot of other octopi you might see around in your travels. Oh,
except for one little thing. He’s completely transparent!
Fangtooth: While that name may seem
redundant (Aren’t fangs and teeth essentially the same thing?) you probably
need to say it twice in this guy’s case. He is all mouth and teeth and is said
to have the largest teeth in proportion to his body of any known fish in the
world.
Ping-Pong Tree Sponge: This sea cucumber looks
like some kind of molecule or illustration of a cosmic explosion or something.
It’s a stem with many branches in every direction, each ending in a bright,
blue sphere.
Now, when we find a brand new and pristine place, for many of us it’s a
source of awe, wonder and admiration. For others, for reasons I can’t begin to
explain, what they see is an exciting new opportunity – to dump their garbage!
There was, at one point, as unbelievable as it sounds, discussion of using this
amazing space to dump nuclear waste! It was felt it was far enough away from
any civilization that it would simply erode quietly away into the Earth’s
molten core and cause no one any problems. Fortunately, this plan was stopped.
They investigated and realized that part of the trench is composed of a seismic
fault line, prone to sea-quake activity, and that just might not mix well with
nuclear junk.
Now that we’ve gotten that nonsense out of our system, I hope the future
sees us treasuring and protecting this gift of Mother Nature.
And perhaps the best way to do that, is to leave it alone.
What, truly, is down there?
Photo by kein
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