A kilometer from the surface, beyond the reach of the sun… a giant black void larger than all the rest of the world’s habitats combined. There’s life here but not as we know it. Alien-like creatures produce dazzling displays of light. Nearly all animals need to attract mates and repel predators. This language of light is so widespread here that these signals are probably the commonest form of communication on the entire planet and yet we still know little about them.
This is what lurks in the midnight zone, from animals that bioluminesce in the midnight zone and lurk on the mud-covered seafloor. Sir David Attenborough narrates in this clip from Blue Planet II, currently on Amazon.
The video features syphonophores and jellies, the fangtooth, the deep sea toad fish, and the adorable flapjack octopus, to name a few. Bonus: Bioluminescent fireworks of sorts.
Related videos on TKSST include:
• Exploring the ocean’s midnight zone with MBARI
• Planet-changing ‘invisible’ microbes on the deep sea floor
• A bioluminescence expert catches a jumbo squid on camera for Blue Planet II
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