Life
The expedition conducted in 1960 observed (with great surprise because of the high pressure) at the bottom large living creatures such as a sole or flounder about 30 cm (1 ft) long, and a shrimp. According to Piccard, "The bottom appeared light and clear, a waste of firm diatomaceous ooze". Many marine biologists are now sceptical of the supposed sighting of the flatfish, and it is suggested that the creature may instead have been a sea cucumber.
During the second expedition, the unmanned vehicle KaikÅ collected mud samples from the seabed. Tiny organisms were found to be living in those samples.
In July 2011 a research expedition deployed untethered landers, called dropcams, equipped with digital video and lights to explore this region of the deep sea. Amongst many other living organisms, some gigantic single-celled amoebas with a size of more than 4 inches (10 centimeters), belonging to the class of xenophyophores were observed. Xenophyophores are noteworthy for their size, their extreme abundance on the seafloor and their role as hosts for a variety of organisms.
Read more about this topic: Mariana Trench
Famous quotes containing the word life:
“I learned early in life that you get places by having the right enemies.”
—Bishop John Spong (b. 1931)
“I have enjoyed greatly the second blooming that comes when you finish the life of the emotions and of personal relations; and suddenly you find—at the age of fifty, say—that a whole new life has opened before you, filled with things you can think about, study, or read about.... It is as if a fresh sap of ideas and thoughts was rising in you.”
—Agatha Christie (1891–1976)
“Journalism is popular, but it is popular mainly as fiction. Life is one world, and life seen in the newspapers another.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)