Deep-Sea Discoveries

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to take a submarine trip into the ocean? If you did, you would discover all kinds of amazing things! Let’s take a dive into the ocean to see what we find!

The Sunlight Zone

The sunlight zone is the part of the ocean that is closest to the shore and gets the most sunlight. In the sunlight zone you will find sea animals like colorful fish, dolphins, seals, and sharks. The sunlight zone is also home to underwater plants like seaweed, kelp, and sea lettuce.

The Twilight Zone

The twilight zone is the next layer of the ocean that is about 650-3,000 feet (200-1,000 meters) underwater. The twilight zone is also known as the mesopelagic zone. No plants live in this zone, and many sea animals make their own light here! Cool sea creatures like lanternfish, dragonfish, squid, and eels live in this zone.

The Midnight Zone

Are you ready to go even deeper on our submarine ocean adventure? Let’s go! After you pass the twilight zone, the next stop is the midnight zone. The midnight zone is about 3,300-13,000 feet (1,000-4,000 meters) deep! Animals living in the midnight zone include vampire squid, angler fish, and sea cucumbers.

The Abyssal Zone

The abyssal zone can go as deep as 20,000 feet (6,096 meters) underwater. The name for this zone comes from the word “abyss,” which in the Greek language means “bottomless sea.” No sunlight ever reaches this zone, making it very dark and cold. The abyssal zone can reach temperatures of 35 degrees Fahrenheit (about 1 degree Celsius). That’s as cold as a winter day in the northern U.S. or Canada! Some of the animals that live in this zone are deep-sea jellyfish and tripod fish.

The Trench Zone

We’ve reached the very bottom of the ocean! Our submarine has landed in the trench zone. Ocean trenches are long, deep openings on the ocean floor—the deepest parts of the ocean. The deepest trench in the world is the Mariana Trench near the island of Guam in the western Pacific Ocean. It is seven miles deep, or about 36,200 feet (11,000 meters) underwater! Animals in this zone include giant tube worms, cusk-eels, and amphipods.

The Ocean: God’s Amazing Creation

I hope you enjoyed your trip to the amazing zones of the ocean! The Bible has a lot to say about the ocean. In Psalm 104:25, it says, “There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number— living things both large and small.” There are so many awesome creatures in the zones of the ocean, and God created them all!