Getting Deep | God's World News
Getting Deep
Science Soup
Posted: May 01, 2020

Imagine a boat floating in the ocean. Depending on location, it could be 200 feet, 700 feet, 10,000 feet, even 35,000 feet above the ocean floor. What’s going on in the water underneath the boat? 

Pretend that the boat is floating on the roof of a five-story building. Each level of the building is bustling with activity, just like each layer of the ocean. 

The top (fifth) floor of the building represents the top layer of the ocean. It is called the Sunlit Zone. Between 0 and 700 feet deep, this zone is home to all kinds of sea life like dolphins, sharks, tuna, jellyfish, sea turtles, seals, sea lions, and stingrays.  

The fourth floor of the building represents the Twilight Zone. This zone is between 700 and 3,280 feet deep. It is not completely dark, but close to it. Bizarre-looking critters live here. Fish have big eyes to help them see and large mouths to help them catch prey. Octopus, whales, squid, and lantern fish live in this zone. Hardly any plants grow on the sea floor at this depth. 

The third floor of the building is the ocean’s Midnight Zone. It’s between 3,280 and 13,125 feet deep. No plants can grow here because it is pitch black. Many animals in this zone don’t even have eyes. Sperm whales can dive into this deep zone. Sea cucumbers, snipe eels, and vampire squid hang out here too. 

The second story of the building is the Abyssal Zone. This zone is between 13,125 and 19,690 feet deep. It is very cold, and food is scarce. To survive, animals feed on the remains of other sea life. Cookie cutter sharks, dumbo octopuses, and deep-sea jellyfish can survive here. 

The ground level of the building represents the Trenches of the sea. This zone is between 19,690 and 35,797 feet deep. The deepest part of the ocean where life has ever been found is in this zone, at 27,460 feet. It is home to giant, mouthless tube worms. They survive on bacteria growing inside their eight-foot-long bodies. Cusk-eels and starfish also live in this zone. It is the largest unexplored ecosystem on Earth.      

God fills the ocean depths with good things. Next time you’re in a boat, look down into the water and remember how deep God’s love is for you.