DENIZENS OF THE DEEP

GIVEN THAT 71% OF THE EARTH’S surface is water-covered – and, as you’ve doubtless heard, that figure is rising – it seems inconceivable that 80% of the ocean is “unmapped, unobserved, and unexplored”, according to the National Ocean Service.

It’s an oft-repeated fact that we know more about the surface of the Moon and Mars than the deep seafloor. Marine biologist Paul Snelgrove, University Research Professor at the Department of Ocean Sciences and Biology Department of Memorial University of Newfoundland, tells SFX: “The joy of deep-sea exploration is not the possibility of new weird and wonderful species, but the certainty of it. It represents Earth’s largest frontier for discovery.”

So what fantastical creatures reside there?