In Supercurioso we always try to approach the greatest curiosities that exist on our planet, whether they are spaces or inhabitants ... If you have a curious spirit, you will always find an article written for you in our blog. On this occasion we want to talk to you about some inhabitants of the depths of Gulf of Mexico . This place has special characteristics that make it a spectacular space within the maritime region of the Atlantic Ocean, with an amazing diversity of species. As we mentioned in our article The jacuzzi of death in Mexico. You will NOT survive a bath in it! , The Gulf of Mexico has characteristics that do not occur in other parts of the planet, which makes it a pilgrimage destination for many scientists and researchers.
Are you still curious? We are going to enter the depths of the Gulf of Mexicoâ ?? |
A curious detail that we have to take into account is that, to date, we have more information about Mars than about what really exists in the depths of the oceans. It seems incredible, right? Many times it is because of the difficult access, but the truth is that every time the human being enters this blind spot on the planet, we find a new rarity to investigate.
NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, completed in 2017, the first of three missions to the deepest parts of the Gulf of Mexico. This mission of the NOAA team was carried out on board the Okeanos Explorer, a ship owned by the US government that is dedicated to exploring the ocean floor and the oceanic crust. This ship is named after the ancient Greek god of the sea.
The mission of the NOAA crew was to map the seabed more than 600 meters below the surface . They had to explore the diversity of the inhabitants of these deep waters.
The result of this expedition did not disappoint anyone. The Okeanos Explorer, after a month of mission in the Gulf of Mexico, threw to the world some amazing images of inhabitants of the depths of that place. Equipped with remote-controlled submersibles and special instruments from the ground, impressive photographs were obtained of some previously unexplored regions of the depths of the Gulf of Mexico.
Do you want to take a look at this newly discovered fauna?
All the photographs that we present below are courtesy of NOAA Office of Oceanic Research and Exploration in the Gulf from Mexico in 2017 . Most of them look like animals from another part of the galaxy, properly from an alien and strange world or from a science fiction movie.
In the photograph below we see the spiral tip of a bamboo coral that grows out of the sediment on the seabed, thousands of feet below the surface.
And look at this little snake star surrounded by the thorny arms of the biggest starfish among the corals!
Next we see the image of a spider crab placed on top of a giant isopod at a depth of 545 meters. In terms of size, this species only reaches 10 centimeters, and its body is brown with gray tweezers. It feeds on worms and crustaceans.
This is the photograph of a jellyfish comb, swimming near the seabed. These are animals with a very complex nervous system that basically use a chemical language completely different from any other animal.
At the bottom of this paragraph, we see a sea toad at a depth of 740 meters. These fish can reach 30 cm of total length in their natural environment, they do not have scales and their skin is covered with a thin layer of mucus. It is a little active species that spends much of the time hidden among the rocks.
Look at this dense community of starfish. A steep outcrop on the seabed sustains this dense community of starfish. If you look closely, at the top of the pinnacle, you can also see a large basket star.
As we told you at the beginning of this article, the seabed harbors fascinating creatures and places like the depths of the Gulf of Mexico is a good place to look for them.
We are more than certain that there must still be many animals to be discovered in every corner of our planet and that will continue to appear completely fascinating beings in all the investigations that are carried out in the world.
What do you think of these 6 fascinating inhabitants of the depths of the Gulf of Mexico? Did you contact any of them? If you are a fan and follower of the advances made by humanity, of new discoveries in both flora and fauna, surely you are interested in missions such as Okeanos Explorer. Do you follow some of these expeditions? Tell us if you are interested and you find these discoveries curious, we are willing to read you!