More people have been to the moon than explored the deep sea. American undersea explorer Victor Vescovo has become the first person to dive to the deepest points of the earth's five oceans.
Vescovo's trip to the Challenger Deep, at the southern end of the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench, was said to be the deepest manned sea dive ever recorded, at 35,853 feet.
At the bottom of trenches like the Mariana, there is no light at all, the water is freezing cold, and the pressure is enough to pulverize you instantly. There are no plants to support the food chain, so deep-sea animals must survive on the decaying scraps of dead organisms from the upper layers of the ocean, which sink to the bottom. They have adapted with huge eyes, or they make their own light, or they sense prey other ways. What kind of animal can live in that environment? Giant versions of their small shallow versions, but these different fish, shark and sea toads look like they belong in a monster film. (Check out these 24 photos!)
Milwaukee Depth, the deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean, is 27,493 feet deep and lies about 100 miles northwest of the island of Puerto Rico.
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