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Why is the deep ocean unexplored?
“The intense pressures in the deep ocean make it an extremely difficult environment to explore.” Although you don’t notice it, the pressure of the air pushing down on your body at sea level is about 15 pounds per square inch. If you went up into space, above the Earth’s atmosphere, the pressure would decrease to zero.
Is 95\% of the ocean really unexplored?
As of the year 2000, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimated that as much as 95 percent of the world’s oceans and 99 percent of the ocean floor are unexplored. Exploring these regions deep below the ocean’s surface is difficult, time-consuming and expensive.
What have we found in the ocean?
These Recent Ocean Discoveries Will Blow Your Mind
- Scientists Discovered the Largest Bioluminescent Shark Ever Recorded.
- A Centuries-old Fossil Was Identified as the Ancestor of Today’s Sea Stars and Brittle Stars.
- Megalodon babies were Enormous … and Sometimes Ate Their Unborn Siblings (oops?)
How much of the ocean is unexplored?
Mysteries of the Oceans Remain Vast and Deep. Yet much about the planet’s oceans remains a mystery. As of the year 2000, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimated that as much as 95 percent of the world’s oceans and 99 percent of the ocean floor are unexplored.
Why is it so hard to explore the deep ocean?
The pressure underneath the ocean depths becomes absolutely ridiculous a couple miles or so down, and it is a huge production just to explore a small amount of a deep part of the ocean for a very brief time.
Is it possible for a new species to appear in the ocean?
The answer is: yes, it is possible. The key point here is that humans have only surveyed perhaps 5-10\% of the oceans, and even lower percentage of the deepest oceans. New species are being found all the time, some of them fairly large.
Are there any animals that remain undiscovered in the deep ocean?
There is a good chance that some pretty large animals remain undiscovered in deep oceans. A good example of this are the beaked whales, a group of cetaceans that is hard to encounter and new species keep getting discovered. An especially cool example is an undescribed beak whale that is being eaten in the Kiribati islands (see here).