The beauty of the sea is undeniable, but that open water is one of the scariest places on earth. It’s freezing cold, dark, and filled with potential predators lurking around every corner. The concept of the unknown is also what makes it so terrifying — beneath the surface of the water are countless mysteries, many of which haven’t even been discovered by our species yet. Although images of the deep sea have been released, there’s nothing like being in the presence of it — standing over it and looking into inky depths, it can feel like the darkness is going to eat you up at any moment. Or one of the sharks that live inside of it. Here are the scariest and most shocking deep sea and ocean facts that will send chills down your spine.
1. The majority of the ocean’s plastic pollution isn’t because of consumer items like shopping bags, straws and other consumer products as we’ve been taught. Instead, the majority of it comes from fishing nets and fishing gear.
2. Only 5% of the entire ocean on our earth has been discovered. That’s 95% of the deep, inky sea that’s completely unaccounted for. We wonder what else is going bump in the night…
3. When a whale dies, it creates an entirely new ecosystem. In a way, a whale becomes its own world when it passes on.
4. The Mauna Kea Volcano in Hawaii is the tallest mountain underwater. It’s also the highest volcano in Hawaii, sitting 6000 meters beneath the ocean’s surface and standing a whopping 4000 meters above. Starting from the ocean floor, its overall height is 10,000 meters.
5. There’s a lake underneath the ocean called the “hot tub of despair.” It’s very highly concentrated with salt and has dissolved methane — if any creature enters it, they die.
6. At a certain depth underwater, buoyancy shifts. This means that you start getting pulled down rather than floating up towards the surface. Yikes!
