Ever since Jaws hit the silver screen in nineteen-seventy-five,
people the world over have been terrified of creatures in the Atlantic Ocean. Since then, countless movies, TV shows, and
games have tried to cash in on this deeply rooted fear. Deep Blue Sea, Deep Rising, Underwater, Leviathan,
Virus, The Abyss, and The Meg have all been based around the idea that monsters lurk in
the depths. And in the popular video game Subnautica,
the entire premise is based around exploring the deep ocean with futuristic diving gear,
and cataloguing the strange creatures below. It may seem like chasms deep within the ocean,
containing life that looks downright alien to us, belongs purely in the realm of fiction. But these places and the bizarre creatures
that live there are very much real. We’ve discussed The Mariana Trench over
in the Pacific Ocean, and what it might take to live there, in a previous video. However, in this episode of The Infographics
Show, we’re going to discuss the Puerto Rico Trench – the deepest area in the Atlantic
Ocean. We’re gonna find out what it is, how deep
it is, and the kind of strange life you might find down there. So, hold your breath and get ready, we’re
about to dive in. No pressure. Well, actually, it’s over eight-hundred
times the pressure at sea level which would squash your head like a ripe melon, but don’t
let that bother you. As the name suggests, the Puerto Rico Trench
is a giant oceanic trench on the boundary of the Caribbean Sea. The trench is almost 500 miles/800 kilometers
long – that’s practically a fifth of the width of the continental United States. It’s also got a maximum depth of almost
30,000 feet/8,376 metres – for context, that’s the length of about eighty-three
football fields. The floor of the trench is referred to as
the “Milwaukee Deep” and sometimes the “Brownson Deep.” If you descended this far below the surface
of the ocean without adequate protection, you’d be crushed like a tin can. The origin of the trench can be traced back
to the Cenozoic era, and some scientists speculate that it’s been open for around seventy-million
years. This means it could have shared the earth
with creatures like the velociraptor and the tyrannosaurus rex. There are a few different curiosities to be
found in the Geography of the Puerto Rico Trench. One is a complex fault system known as the
Bunce Fault – after its discoverer, Dr. Elizabeth Bunce – which is not unlike the
San Andreas fault in California. There was also a large underwater mud volcano
discovered almost twenty-six-thousand feet deep into the trench, capable of spewing over
six miles of molten mud. Another strange and fascinating detail about
the trench itself is the trench’s negative gravity anomaly, dubbed by some as the greatest
of its kind anywhere in the world. NASA studies have shown that the bottom of
the trench has a strong downwards pull, as though the mass beneath the trench is creating
its own force of gravity. This is partly why studying and exploring
the trench has been a nightmare in the past. The gravity-disrupting power of the trench’s
floor can cause most conventional navigational technology to go haywire. This is of course a completely natural anomaly,
and definitely not the secret base of Zeti Reticulian aliens and their fleet of anti-gravity
ships. Other than definitely not hiding secret alien
bases, what else makes the Puerto Rico Trench special? Well, it all comes down to tectonic plates. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, in the Pacific Ocean trenches often form in places where one plate subducts
another. However, the Puerto Rico Trench, to quote
the NOAA: “is located at a boundary between two plates that slide past each other with
only a small component of subduction.” This is why the trench is slightly less deep
than its sister trench, the Mariana, in the Pacific. But just because it’s smaller doesn’t
mean it can’t cause huge problems for the people living nearby. To the approximately four-million United States
citizens living in Puerto Rico and The Virgin Islands, the Puerto Rico Trench is a real
and present danger. It’s technically classified as an active
plate boundary. If you paid attention in high-school Geography
class, you’d know that this means earthquakes are a constant risk, and this area has abnormally
high seismic activity, too. Earthquakes ranging from magnitudes of 6.9
to 8.1 on the Richter Scale have been recorded as far back as 1787, each causing widespread
devastation for coastal communities. However, earthquakes aren’t the only issue
– tsunamis have also been a consistent and deadly threat to the region. In 1918, an earthquake just outside of Puerto
Rico caused a tsunami that drowned ninety-one. But this is actually one of the more minor
incidents. After an earthquake North of Hispaniola in
1943, a tsunami struck, reaching miles inland, and drowning up to one-thousand-eight-hundred
people. Most disturbing of all, these earthquakes
and tsunamis are not a thing of the past. Scientists and government officials estimate
that the Puerto Rico Trench is and will remain an active threat to the people of Puerto Rico
and The Virgin Islands. While technology for predicting when these
seismic events might occur has improved significantly, there’s no preventative measure that can
be taken against these terrifying forces of nature. In recent years, thanks to advances in submarine
technology, there have been manned exploratory missions into the Puerto Rico trench. One such expedition is that of Victor Vescovo
– an incredibly wealthy American private equity investor and former naval officer – who
used his vast personal resources to reinvent himself as an explorer. In 2018, Vescovo conducted a solo-mission
in a small submersible vehicle, travelling over 27,000 feet/2,100 metres down into the
Puerto Rico Trench. As a modern-day adventurer, Vescovo also climbed
Mount Everest, and he took great pride in travelling to both the highest point on earth,
and the lowest point of the Atlantic Ocean. So, we’ve discussed the Puerto Rico Trench,
its location, its effects on the locals, and the eccentric millionaires that explore it. How about the ecosystem of creatures that
call the Puerto Rico Trench and places like it home? Oceanic Trenches are technically part of the
Hadal Zone – an area between 20,000 and 26,000 feet/6,000 to 8,000 metres below the
surface of the ocean. The Hadal Zone is named after Hades, the Greek
name for both the God of the Underworld and the Underworld itself. As one ventures deeper into the ocean, both
the variety and biomass of animals decrease. At around 27,000 feet/8,000 feet, the Puerto
Rico Trench sits perfectly in the Hadal Zone. So, what kinds of animals – known as Hadal
Fauna – could you expect to see down there? In the deep ocean, there’s no light, and
therefore, no plant life. It’s cold – reaching around 39.2 degrees
(four degrees Celsius) at its highest temperatures. The creatures that exist in the Atlantic Hadal
Zone need to either be extremely simple or extremely hardy. Much of this life is microscopic, such as
a number of different planktons. Of greater interest is the area just above
the Hadal Zone – the Abyssal Zone. In the Abyssal Zone, we’ll find creatures
that are a lot more complex than the Hadal Fauna. And in the process, we’ll realise that isn’t
always a good thing. Here are some of the strangest creatures you
might find in places like the Puerto Rico Trench. First, the Deep-Sea Dragonfish. A vicious predator that earns its ominous
name. The Dragonfish is found up to 50,000 feet/1,500
metres deep, with razor-sharp fangs and glowing organs (known as photophores) that compensate
for the lack of light. Like the Anglerfish, the Dragonfish has a
glowing barbel that hangs beneath its chin to attract prey. And here’s an unsettling little fact about
the Dragonfish: Because most of its prey are also bioluminescent, and due to the Dragonfish’s
translucent skin, it could be at risk of detection from rival predators after feeding. However, our friend the Dragonfish has a cunning
mechanism to account for this issue. The interior walls of the fish’s stomach
are black, preventing its prey from shining through after consumption. Another deep-sea nightmare is Myxine Glutinosa,
also known as the Atlantic Hagfish, and the Slime Eel. The Atlantic Hagfish isn’t quite as terrifying
as the Dragonfish, but it makes up for this by being absolutely disgusting. Half of the nickname “Slime Eel” is a
misnomer, because the creature lacks a backbone and a jaw, meaning it’s not technically
an eel. The slime part, however, is upsettingly accurate. The body of the Hagfish is covered in slime-producing
glands that leaves it constantly dripping with sticky secretions. This slime is one of the most notable qualities
of the Hagfish – seeing as it’s reinforced with fibres that make it durable and incredibly
hard to remove. Even more concerning, Hagfish slime can expand
ten thousand times beyond its original quantity, producing buckets of the noxious goo. In an unfortunate example of the power of
Hagfish slime, a truck carrying Hagfish towards South Korea – where Hagfish are a delicacy
– overturned on Highway 101, in Oregon. The cargo spilled out onto the asphalt, coating
the truck itself and another unfortunate car in a mountain of thick, white Hagfish slime. It’s rare that this happens anywhere above
6,000 feet/1,800 metres deep in the ocean. If you descend to a mere 3,500 feet/1000 metres,
you might run into Vampyroteuthis infernalis - the Vampire Squid. In spite of its terrifying name, and the fact
that it looks like Cthulhu’s decapitated head, the Vampire Squid isn’t much of a
threat. It’s only six inches/15 centimetres long,
and is believed to largely feed on small invertebrates like prawns. The creature exists on an ocean layer pretty
much entirely devoid of light, and thus, has developed full control of its bioluminescence
as a defence mechanism. The squid can deploy its impressive lightshow
at will to attract or mesmerise prey, but if a larger predator arrives? The squid can turn off its lights, rendering
itself completely invisible. Next comes the legendary Gulper Eel, or Black
Swallower, present in all deep oceans across the globe. These creatures can live up to 6,000 feet/1,800
metres deep, and has even more limited interactions with human scientists. However, when you find out more about the
Gulper Eel and its unique eating habits, you’ll probably be grateful for that. The creature has tiny eyes and a bioluminescent
tail that allows it to navigate the darkness of the ocean depths. The light on its tail glows pink and occasionally
red, and like the Dragonfish’s barbel, attracts prey. Its size ranges from three to six feet/one
to two metres – significantly larger than the Dragonfish and Hagfish – but the length
of its body feels secondary to the size of its mouth. The Gulper Eel has a large mouth with a loosely-hinged
jaw. While its diet consists mainly of small crustaceans,
when its favourite foods are scarce, it’s capable of unhinging its jaw and swallowing
prey whole. While it’s unlikely the Gulper Eel does
this often, it’s technically capable of swallowing prey the same size, or even larger,
than its head. One more reason to be grateful you’re not
a deep-sea fish. Speaking of eels, up to six thousand feet
deep in the Atlantic Ocean, you’re likely to encounter the Snipe Eel. A perfectly weird name for a perfectly weird
animal. Five-feet/1.5-metres-long, and incredibly
thin, the creature looks almost like a living piece of string – hence its alternate name,
the Threadfish. But that’s not the only weird nickname for
the Snipe Eel. Due to its thin, birdlike face and beak-like
mouth, it’s also sometimes called the Deep-Sea Duck. All things considered, this is one of the
kinder traits to name this eel after, seeing as its anus is in its throat. Unlike the Hagfish – which has no vertebrae
whatsoever – the Snipe Eel actually has the most vertebrae of any creature alive on
earth today, with 750 vertebrae in its long and excessively-articulated spine. Finally, perhaps residing the deepest of all,
is the terrifying Fangtooth. Otherwise known as the Ogrefish, despite being
only six inches/15 centimetres long, this creature really earns its monstrous names. Dwelling up to sixteen-thousand feet/4,800
metres below the surface of the ocean, the Fangtooth can survive in locations like the
Puerto Rico Trench better than any of the previous creatures – and when you see it,
you’ll be immensely relieved about that. It earned its name from its impressive set
of fangs, which are actually the largest fangs in the ocean, in proportion to the size of
the fish. Its terrifying teeth are too big to even fit
in its own mouth – as a result, the roof of the Fangtooth’s mouth has special pockets
that its larger teeth can slide into while its jaws are closed. Good luck sleeping with that image in mind. Or with the knowledge that any of these creatures
are out there, lurking in the deep. Waiting and hungry. It’s a common cliché to say that we know
more about space than we do about the deep ocean. But much like space exploration, new technologies
for better understanding the depths of our oceans are being developed every year. Places like the Puerto Rico Trench won’t
always hold the mystery they do today – the real question is whether we’ll like what
we find. Thanks for tuning in to The Infographics Show! If you want to dive deep into our other undersea
videos, why not check out “Could You Live at The Bottom of The Mariana Trench?” and
then “What Happens To Your Body at the Bottom of the Ocean” to find out what’d happen
if you didn’t manage to survive. Better click fast – we’re starting to
get that sinking feeling already.
