Dramatic Deep Sea Creatures - Latest science, Marine Biology Live Class Guest Student Blogger & Curriculum Sale!

Periphylla periphylla found in oceans worldwide at depths of 1000 - 7000 feet. Image credit: Erling Svensen.

Deep sea creatures are some of the most bazaar, ferocious looking and fascinating animals on the planet! Yet, we've only explored a very small percentage of the abyss, so think of how many more crazy, beautiful, frightening and, yes, even some adorable looking creatures yet to be discovered! However, the last few decades, with our technological advancements and a huge thanks to leading organizations such as NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute), the depths are being plumbed and new creatures are being discovered like never before! In centuries past, deep sea exploration was accomplished by primitive ways such as dredging and well....by whatever new creature happened to wash ashore dead and at least relatively intact, would be the next specimen studied.

Today, the key tool for exploring the depths, is the ROV (Remote Operating Vehicle), which is unocccupied and tethered to a host ship and operated by a crew. 

A science ROV being retrieved by an oceanographic research vessel.

An ROV suction device about to capture a deep sea octopus.

This past March and May, my live CurrClick.com homeschool students completed my Dramatic Deep Sea Creatures 8-lesson course. The course was a huge hit with 19 homeschool families joining the live class experience. We had some 5-star blogging students share some amazing posts about topics taught. Please take the time to read 5-star blogger, my spring Marine Biology Dramatic Deep Sea Creatures live class student Sophie C.'s post below!

South Pole Sauna by Sophie C. age 14

In the deep, dark and frigid waters off Antarctica, at depths of 8,000 feet, lies the most startling spa on Earth. Bubbling up from magma under the earth, the water is super heated to 721 degrees Fahrenheit. This balmy steam bath provides an irresistible draw to a host of unusual sea creatures intent on escaping the freezing waters. The vents, called black smokers, are homes to creatures never seen before: an aggressive seven arm sea star, a ghost octopus and the Antarctic Yeti crab (Kiwa tyleri). This last creature is both fascinating and plentiful in this home. It grows bacteria on its hairy chest, bacteria which uses chemosynthesis to change the toxic iron sulfide in the water into usable food. Unable to survive in the freezing water, the crabs crowd on to the vents--- 600 per square meter! This is one popular spa!

Yeti crabs crowding around a deep sea hydrothermal vent

My first paragraph provides the essential facts but let me add a few more background details here. Hydrothermal vents are created when sea water seeps into cracks called fissures in the sea floor. It encounters magma, that extremely hot molten lava that we are familiar with in volcanoes. The water becomes heated at the same time it is dissolving chemicals in the undersea floor. Ultimately, it spews upward where it encounters the icy sea water. The chemicals solidify creating vents which are warm and full of toxic chemicals. Black Smokers create the hottest water, the most sulfide and are dark because of the iron in the mix. White smokers are cooler and made up of barium, calcium and silicon. Both kinds provide an abnormal and, to some creatures, welcoming environment which results in a unique ecosystem. Chemosynthetic bacteria use the toxic chemicals as a food source, converting them to sugars that other animals can use. They are the first food source in a pyramid which includes other larger animals preying on the bacteria and then upon each other.

Deep sea black smokers

The vents in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica are unique. There are no tubeworms, mussels or shrimp which are typical in tropical vents. Instead, they are home to unusual barnacles, anemones, a very interesting snail with a one-of-a-kind shell, and ghost octopi. These vents were only discovered in 1999, first explored in 2009 and then more fully studied in 2010. There is still much research to do at this setting which one scientist described as more unusual than anything you would find on the moon.

A Ghost Octopus

Thank you, Sophie, for sharing your superb blog with us! 

Even if you can't join us for the class live in the future, now students can grab the self-paced version of the course on sale at either my CurrClick.com store (50% off) or Educents (58% off). You can check out NatureGlo's latest Marine Biology live classes from her CurrClick home page here. The course is composed of 8 PowerPoints or Slideshow lessons with accompanying study guides per lesson. A course manual is included along with a grading rubric for student projects. Some families may not have PowerPoint, so simply playing the pdf files as a Slideshow is an easy hack. Students are encouraged to follow their learning curiosity and complete an original project about their favorite deep sea creature. Have a look at the full course curriculum with previews at my Educents store below!

Sincerely, NatureGlo