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Science correspondent, BBC News
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Beds of clams, mats of bacteria that look like ice and fields of tube worms – these are just some examples of the strange, extreme life that an expedition to the deepest parts of the ocean has observed, filmed and photographed.
Diving in a human-occupied submersible to ocean trenches in the northwest Pacific Ocean, a Chinese-led research team captured pictures of life at depths of more than 9km (5.6miles).
The deepest marine vertebrate life filmed before this expedition was at 8,336m – a snailfish that was filmed swimming in a deep ocean trench off the coast of Japan in 2023.
These new observations are published in the journal Nature.
Although it was accepted among marine scientists that there would be life at these depths, scientists on this mission say the abundance of animals they saw from the windows of their submersible was “amazing”.
The scientific expedition covered more than 2,500km – exploring trenches at depths ranging from 5,800 to 9,533m.
Researchers travelled in a submersible vehicle called Fendouzhe, which can operate at depths of more than 10km for several hours at a time.
The team, led by researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Deep Sea Science and Engineering, discovered what they describe as “thriving communities” of creatures.
“It’s exciting – especially for a deep sea scientist – to go to a place that human beings have not explored,” one of the lead researchers, Dr
