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"Our experiment proves that huge creatures are hidden in the depths of the ocean" - voila! tourism

2023-01-17T22:28:16.420Z


In an attempt to find out what creatures live in the darkest areas of the ocean floor, researchers sent three alligator carcasses there. What remains of them proves that something monstrous is there


A giant squid of an unprecedented size was recorded for the first time on the US coast (Edie Widder and Nathan Robinson)

The deepest regions of the ocean are less explored than the surface of the moon and remain untouched.

To find out what is hidden in these dark areas, two scientists from the Marine Consortium of Louisiana Universities launched three alligator carcasses into the depths of the waters in the Gulf of Mexico - to a depth of more than two kilometers.

The experiment designed to discover what life forms exist in the depths of the ocean brought up an impressive conclusion: there is something monstrous there that can eat an alligator whole - and we have no idea what it looks like.

The researchers raised the possibility that it was a huge shark or squid - sizes never seen before.



"To study the deep-sea food web, we placed three dead alligators at a depth of at least two kilometers in the Gulf of Mexico for 51 days," said Clifton Nunnally of Louisiana State University.

Why alligators?

The researchers explained: "We've seen alligators and crocodiles exploit more marine habitats in recent years, so we decided to do this experiment to investigate the effect of a large reptile carcass on deep-sea food webs."

Is there a huge shark lurking there? (Photo: ShutterStock, Antonio Viesa)

the results

The first alligator was completely gone in less than a day.

Underwater scavengers, such as giant sea snails, gobbled it up faster than expected.

They were joined by isopods called isopods, crustaceans that are normally small, but this one was the size of a football.



The carcass of the second alligator remained in part: after 51 days, the researchers removed it from the water and found that its bones had been completely stripped of meat.

"It really surprised us. There was not a single piece of meat left on the carcass," scientist Craig McClain told Atlas Obscura.

Eventually, the researchers discovered that a new species of bone-eating worm from the Usdax family, previously unknown to science, was the one that effectively pulled the crocodile's flesh from its bones.



What else is hidden at the bottom of the sea?


"Oasis of life" is about 500 meters below the surface of the ocean



"like a balloon on a string": researchers dived into the depths of the sea and discovered production that has not been observed until today

Giant isopods pounced on the alligators.

Each of them is the size of a football (Photo: LOUISIANA UNIVERSITIES MARINE CONSORTIUM)

But it was the third alligator that provided the biggest shock: something picked up the alligator's carcass and carried it away, leaving nothing but a shallow depression on the ocean floor.

The weight used to place the carcass was found by the researchers about 9 meters away.

McClain speculates that whoever is capable of such an act is probably a very large shark or a giant squid (style of the mythical creature Kraken).

And maybe it's him?

The photos that prove: a monstrous prehistoric shark weighing 100 tons still lives in the depths?

To the full article

However, any shark or squid large enough to carry a half-ton alligator may be an entirely new species.

"I have yet to find a squid that can eat a whole alligator," McClain told News18, "and I don't want to be on the ship if we ever come across one."

  • tourism

Tags

  • squid

  • Alligators

  • sharks

Source: walla

All life articles on 2023-01-17

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