These slow-growing animals are now found from Ireland to New Zealand, and have even been discovered growing on the legs of oil rigs. Despite this, they rival their tropical, shallow-water cousins in splendour. More spectacular are the deep-sea corals, found at depths of up to 6000 m in waters as cold as 2☌. But then in 2003 researchers found many unique bacteria in sediments 300 m beneath the Pacific seafloor, feeding on sediments millions of years old. Deep below the sea floor, life was not thought to be possible. They feed off organic “snow” that falls from above. Life is also found in the form of bacteria, worms and crustaceans, which teem in the abyssal plains that cover vast stretches of the deep. Sperm whales and Antarctic sleeper sharks are the only animals equipped to take on these deep-sea prey. ![]() Perhaps the most dramatic creature is the 13-metre-long giant squid, Architeuthis (recently captured live on film for the first time) and the even more fearsome 15-metre-long colossal squid, never seen alive. The bizarre inhabitants of the deep include: deep water sharks devilish-looking dragonfish, that fire beams of red illumination from “lamps” under their eyes many bioluminescent fish ancient coelacanths creeping sea lilies blood-red squid an octopus with glow-in-the-dark suckers bell-shaped, metre-wide jellyfish, snails with armour-plated feet and a deadly jellyfish relative that uses fluorescent tentacles to lure prey.
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