Way out into the blue, when you lose all sight of land, is a jaw-dropping array of weird and wonderful marine creatures. Scroll to discover 13 unbelievable species that either live in or migrate through the High Seas.
1.
The Disney Character
One of the sea’s most endearing creatures, but also one of the rarest, the deep-dwelling dumbo octopus (Grimpoteuthis) got its name from the large ears of the famous Disney character, Dumbo.
The only octopus to have these adorable ear-like fins, a dumbo octopus uses them to propel itself through the water and steers using its webbed arms. Living at depths of up to 13,000 feet below the surface, dumbos are the deepest-living octopuses known, but scientists don’t yet know how they are adapted to survive in such intensely cold temperatures. Finding food—or a mate—in the vast, inky blackness of the deep ocean is no small feat, especially as these octopuses (and their prey) are rare, and when a dumbo does find food it swallows its prey whole. The males give females a small packet of sperm to carry around so that she can lay eggs anytime she finds a suitable rock or piece of coral.
2.
The Living Fossil
With a lineage dating back around 125 million years, the striking goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) is named for its likeness to the impish goblins that commonly play evil tricks in Japanese folklore.
A deep-dweller and bottom-feeder, the goblin shark has a narrow snout and fanglike teeth, and can completely unhinge its jaws when feeding, with the fastest and greatest jaw protrusion among sharks. This intimidating shark can also sense electric fields in the deep, dark waters it calls home, using special sensing organs on its snout called ampullae of Lorenzini. Sadly, even the creatures of the deep sea are not immune to plastic pollution and there has been evidence of the goblin shark eating garbage that has descended to the sea floor.
3.
The Bioluminescent Bomber
Only discovered in 2009, these extraordinary deep-sea worms known as the “green bombers” (Swima bombiviridis) release tiny sacs that glow brilliant green to distract predators on the hunt for dinner.
These agile swimmers live up to 1.9 miles below the ocean surface, and propel themselves through the water using tiny paddle-shaped bristles on their bodies. Ejecting part of one’s body as an escape tactic is extremely rare, but when a hungry fish approaches these worms release fluid-filled spheres that suddenly burst into light, giving them long enough to disappear into the darkness. Discoveries like this remind us that much of the vast ocean, especially the deep sea, remains unexplored.
4.
The Bubblegum Tree
Growing up to six meters tall, this unusually adorned sea fan looks more like something you would expect to find growing alongside Willy Wonka’s chocolate river than on a deep seabed.
Bubblegum coral (Paragorgia arborea) is a cold-water branching fan that is found nearly everywhere except the tropics, and it began its migration to conquer the deep seas around 10 million years ago. Each of the knobbly bright pink blobs is an individual animal called a polyp, which has eight tentacles to capture plankton drifting by on ocean currents. Although no fisheries intentionally target bubblegum corals, they can be caught as bycatch (accidental catch) in bottom contact fishing gears such as trawls, longlines, and dredges.
5.
The King of the Jellies
With a “mane” of long, hair-like tentacles streaming from its voluminous bell-shaped body, it’s easy to see how the lion’s mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata) got its common name. With tentacles of up to 120 feet and some rivaling the size of a blue whale, it really is king of the jellies.
Equipped with poisonous nematocysts (barbs filled with venom) to stun its hapless prey, eight clusters of up to 1,200 tentacles surround the jelly’s mouth on the underside of the bell. Like all jellies, the lion’s mane jellyfish has no brain, blood, or nervous system, but is bioluminescent and glows brilliant colors in the dark. Most commonly found in the open ocean, lion’s mane jellyfish also act as floating oases for a few lucky species that are immune to its sting, including medusafish, butterfish, harvestfish, and juvenile prowfish, providing a reliable source of both food and protection.
6.
The Long-Distance Navigator
Sea turtles have long astounded scientists with their ability to swim thousands of kilometers across the open ocean and then return to the very beach where they hatched years before. Now researchers have found evidence that sea turtles are using an innate, “true” navigational system, possibly using the Earth’s geomagnetic field.
Although it often took the 30 green sea turtles in the researchers’ study several attempts to locate isolated island targets along their route, there is strong evidence for sea turtles’ remarkable ability to re-orient themselves in deep waters hundreds of kilometers from land. Also highly migratory, loggerhead sea turtles traverse as much as 8,000 miles a year to feeding grounds. Loggerheads are also the longest divers among sea turtles—the record stands at 10 hours—illustrating that sea turtles truly make the most of the vast breadth, and depth, of the High Seas. Today, six of the seven species of sea turtles are considered either “endangered” or “vulnerable” due to several globally present threats, primarily caused by humans.
7.
The Slimy Fish Dish
You may have come across orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus) being served up in a restaurant, but you probably didn’t know that this species of fish was historically known as the slimehead because of the mucus-producing canals on their heads. The seafood industry decided that diners would find this association less palatable and rebranded it.
One of the world’s longest-living marine fishes, the orange roughy can live for up to 150 years, with a slow reproductive cycle and rate of maturity that makes it extremely vulnerable to overfishing. Spending most of their time on or just over the seafloor, since the 1980s orange roughy have been primarily captured through bottom trawling, where heavy weighted nets are dragged along the seabed, causing extensive damage to seamounts and fragile deep-sea corals that then take years to heal, as well as accidentally capturing many other species as bycatch.
8.
The Ancient Architect
As if an estimated age of about 11,000 years isn’t enough to marvel at, the intricate lattice-like structure of deep-sea glass sponges like the humble venus flower basket (Euplectella aspergillum) may hold the secret to unlocking a new generations of stronger, lighter bridges and skyscrapers.
Engineers at Harvard have been using mathematics and computer science to unravel the super-charged strength in this ancient creature’s skeletal structure. Taking building tips from its unique diagonal reinforcement strategy has led to improvements in overall structural strength of at least 20 percent, compared to the traditional lattices we have been using for centuries. The architecture of the future looks set to be bioinspired.
9.
The Gentle Vampire
With a scientific name (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) that literally translates as “vampire squid from hell” and spikes and tentacles that are as old as the dinosaurs, you might expect this deep-sea creature to be as devilish and bloodthirsty as its name.
In fact, the vampire squid is quite harmless. Neither a squid nor an octopus, scientists have classified it in a group all of its own. The vampire squid does not suck or drink blood but gets its common name from its blood-red-to-black coloration and the cape-like skin that connects its arms. Although it can look intimidating when it inverts its cape, this gentle vampire feeds on plant and animal matter that sinks from the surface ocean, called marine snow.
10.
The Lightning-Fast Swimmer
One of the largest fish in the ocean, the marlin spends most of its life far out at sea. From the distinctive, shimmering stripes running along the dorsal side of the striped marlin (Kajikia audax) to the cobalt-blue back and silvery-white belly of its larger cousin, the blue marlin (Makaira nigricans), all four species of marlin are highly migratory and will follow warm ocean currents for hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles.
Lightning fast, marlin can reach speeds of at least 50 miles per hour, with one source citing 80 miles per hour. The striped marlin, the most acrobatic of its kind, can be seen catapulting itself from the water in explosive aerial displays. Close relatives of the swordfish, marlin have a long, lethal, spear-shaped upper jaw, which they use to slash through schools of fish, returning to eat their stunned and wounded victims. Under pressure from unsustainable industrial fishing, some species of marlin are classed as “vulnerable” to extinction and populations cannot recover until fishing pressure is reduced.
11.
The Science Fiction Creation
Life in the complete absence of sunlight requires extreme adaptation. Anglerfish (Lophiiformes) are best known for the way that they lure unsuspecting prey with a protruding bioluminescent spine or “rod” that dangles from the top of their head.
There are over 200 species of anglerfish and many are found at depths of over 6,600 feet. Food down here is scarce, but with their huge mouths and pliable bodies, anglerfish can swallow prey twice their size, making the most of whatever unfortunate creature was drawn to its light. Interestingly, it is only female anglerfish that sport this ready-made piece of fishing apparatus. Instead of catching their own food, young males use their razor-sharp teeth to burrow inside the body of a larger female and live as a permanent parasite, fusing with her body over time, losing his eyes and all his internal organs except his testes. As many as six parasitic males have been recorded living inside a female anglerfish.
12.
The Deep-Sea Yeti
Named after the infamous abominable snowman, yeti crabs (Kiwaidae) were only discovered in 2005 and live in one of the most extreme environments on Earth: deep-sea hydrothermal vents.
Found at the points on the seafloor where hot lava rises between splitting tectonic plates, these hydrothermal vents spew blisteringly hot water into the freezing ocean surrounding them. Using the bristle-like hairs on their “furry” pincers to harvest the bacteria that sustain them, the yeti must pile on top of one another to survive. Too close to the vents and the yeti crabs will be fried in an instant; too far and they will freeze to death.
13.
The Minute Butterfly
No larger than a grain of sand, wing-footed sea butterflies (Thecosomata) are a type of tiny swimming snail—or pteropod—named for the way they propel themselves through the water, flapping their miniature fins like a butterfly’s wings.
Today, these wondrous sea creatures are in danger. Human-generated greenhouse gases are causing our seas to absorb more carbon dioxide, which in turn causes the water to become more acidic. This is dissolving the shells of sea butterflies, often killing the creature inside. Much like a canary in a coal mine, the disappearance of sea butterflies is a critical warning sign that we must prioritize the restoration of ocean health.
Help Protect the High Seas
The High Seas makes up more than 90 percent of the living space on Earth, and yet today less than 1 percent is protected. Not only are they home to a remarkable array of marine creatures, the High Seas is critical to all life on Earth, including us. Under threat from ocean acidification, shipping traffic, noise pollution, plastic and chemical pollution, deep seabed mining, and the climate crisis, the High Seas is in grave need of protection.
