JOLLY DAYS

Deep Fish in Choppy Seas

Creatures unaffected by the financial crisis have been found.

Living in the deepest trenches of the multitudinous seas, hadal snailfish have their own issues:

Here they have to contend with total darkness, near freezing temperatures and immense water pressure – at this depth the pressure is 8,000 tonnes per square metre, equivalent to that of 1600 elephants standing on the roof of a Mini car. They feed on the thousands of tiny shrimp-like creatures that scavenge the carcasses of dead fish and detritus reaching the ocean floor.

It is not so bad:

…these fish aren’t loners. The images show groups that are sociable and active – possibly even families – feeding on little shrimp, yet living in one of the most extreme environments on Earth.