3 ms·
I would imagine it is the extreme pressure. At that kind of depth you either need a really strong body and small surface area (tiny crustacean) or a gelatinous
by bobthepanda 4y ago
I would imagine it is the extreme pressure. At that kind of depth you either need a really strong body and small surface area (tiny crustacean) or a gelatinous body where that doesn’t matter (snailfish). Those are probably disadvantageous at lower pressure environments. (I’m curious how molting would work at high pressures though, since the crustacean would lose its shell.)
as far as blindness, there’s not really visible sunlight reaching there, so sight probably doesn’t do a lot, and eyeballs are squishy.
- Retric 4y agoCreatures living in the deep simply equalize their internal and external pressures and don’t feel the pressure as some kind of weight they need to withstand. This is why when you bring them to the surface quickly they die from the sudden decrease in pressure. As to eyes bioluminescence is common in the deep and nothing would bother if nobody had eyes.
- noduerme 4y agoI'm sort of curious how they don't simply explode when you bring them to the surface.
- oesexe 4y agoI have caught quite a few red fish in Greenland. They ‘only’ live a hundred meters down, but sure they kinda explode when surface. Eyes pop out, and their swim bladder pops out of their mouth. If they get unhooked on the way up, they will also surface themselves.
- undersuit 4y agoI've only been sea fishing twice off the coast of NC on a boat, but I don't remember reeling in hundreds of meters of line... How long does that take?
- Retric 4y agoWater is largely incompressible decreasing in volume by 1.8% at the sea floor a 4km under the ocean, so returning to the surface doesn’t cause creatures to explode dramatically.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Properties_of_water#Compressibility https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Properties_of_water#Compressib... The problem is gasses both dissolved in tissues which causes cellular scale damage (Aka the bends) and internal pockets of air such as in swim bladders which can rupture.