Scientists dive into ‘Midnight Zone’ to study dark ocean
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A team of scientists is preparing to dive deep into the depths of the Indian Ocean — into a “Midnight Zone” where light barely reaches but life still thrives.
Scientists from the British-led Nekton Mission plan to survey wildlife and gauge the effects of climate change in the unexplored area. Working with the Seychelles and Maldives governments, the fiveweek expedition is targeting seamounts — vast underwater mountains that rise thousands of meters from the sea floor.
To explore such inhospitable depths, Nekton scientists will board one of the world’s most advanced submersibles, called “Limiting Factor.”
“What we do know is that beneath 1,000 meters (3,280 feet), there’s no light down there, but a lot of animals … are bioluminescent. It’s life that glows,” says Nekton mission director Oliver
Steeds.
“The area that we’re going to be researching, it’s one of the most bio-diverse parts of the world’s oceans. So what we’re going to find there is unknown,” Steeds recently told The Associated Press in Barcelona, Spain, before sea trials for the submersible and its mother ship.
The AP will be covering the expedition exclusively from start to finish.
Last August, the “Limiting Factor” completed the Five Deeps Expedition, diving to the deepest point in each of the world’s five oceans. The deepest was almost 11,000 meters ( 36,000 feet) down — deeper than Mount Everest is tall.
To withstand such crushing pressures, the sub’s two- person crew compartment is wrapped in a nine-centimeter (3.5inch) titanium cocoon. It also carries up to 96 hours’ worth of emergency oxygen.