Deep Sea Creatures

[Sima Yi]

Australian scientists discover bizarre prehistoric deep-sea creatures below the Great Barrier Reef

Australian scientists have discovered bizarre prehistoric sea life hundreds of metres below the Great Barrier Reef, in an unprecedented mission to document species under threat from ocean warming. Ancient sharks, giant oil fish, swarms of crustaceans and a primitive shell-dwelling squid species called the Nautilus were among the astonishing life captured by remote controlled cameras at Osprey Ree.

A deep-sea amphipod crustacean

Lead researcher Justin Marshall said his team had also found several unidentified fish species, including "prehistoric six-gilled sharks" using special low-light sensitive cameras which were custom designed to trawl the ocean floor, 1,400 metres (4,593 feet) below sea level. "Some of the creatures that we've seen we were sort of expecting, some of them we weren't expecting, and some of them we haven't identified yet," said Marshall, from the University of Queensland. The team used a tuna head on a stick to attract the creatures, which live beyond the reach of sunlight.

A Prehistoric Six Gilled Shark attacks the bait next to the camera


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[Sima Yi]

Professor Marshall said: "Osprey Reef is one of the many reefs in the Coral Sea Conservation Zone, which has been identified as an area of high conservation importance. Therefore it is paramount that we identify the ecosystems and species inhabiting the area." He added: "As well as understanding life at the surface, we need to plunge off the walls of Osprey to describe the deep-sea life that lives down to 2,000 metres, beyond the reach of sunlight"

A deep-sea anglerfish

The team of scientists captured the sea creatures using special low-light sensitive, custom designed remote controlled cameras,
which sat on the sea floor. They spent 10 days filming in the deep-sea.

A deep-sea hatchetfish


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[Sima Yi]

Many species had also evolved to produce their own light because sunlight fails to penetrate more than 800 metres beneath the sea surface. They produce light similar to a firefly and use it as a defence mechanism, to communicate and to see.

Deep-sea amphipod Phronima

A deep-sea viperfish


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A deep-sea anglerfish

A Peraphilla deep-sea jellyfish


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[Sima Yi]

Zooplankton from the deep

A cantering isopod


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The sense organs of a ridge-head deep-sea fish.


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