Into the Midnight Zone: Secrets of the Ocean Void

Thu, 06 Mar 2025 04:25:50 +0000

The Deep Sea Midnight Zone | Worlds of the Deep, a collaboration with Schmidt Ocean Institute. Thank you to Brilliant for sponsoring Natural World Facts 🧠💡 - for a 30-day free trial and 20% off an annual premium subscription visit https://brilliant.org/NaturalWorldFacts/

In the deep ocean, life is divided between very different worlds. In the midwater, pelagic wanderers tread migratory routes that span entire oceans, and planktonic drifters and their predators take part in bioluminescent light shows. It is separated into zones based on depth, including the sunlight zone (epipelagic), twilight zone (mesopelagic), midnight zone (bathypelagic), abyssal and hadal zones. And below, lies the deep sea floor. A kingdom of mud and ooze, where sessile creatures cling to any solid outcrop and corals craft kingdoms on the seamount crusts. The worlds of the deep sea could not be more different, and yet their stories are fundamentally intertwined. In this episode, we delve into the Midnight Zone, a pitch-black zone of the deep sea where life has found peculiar ways to survive the immense pressure, from anglerfish to vampire squid to giant sharks.

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Episodes:
1 - The Twilight Zone - https://youtu.be/dTKUEvGYvSg
2 - The Midnight Zone - (this episode)
3 - The Abyssal Plain - coming soon
4 - Seamounts and Canyons - coming soon
5 - Hydrothermal Vents - coming soon

Written, narrated and edited by me, Leo Richards. This channel (Natural World Facts) is a solo passion project dedicated to exploring the wonders of the natural world and telling stories that inspire! I'm so excited to share this series with you at last.

Schmidt Ocean Institute (SOI) is a non-profit oceanographic research foundation that has been pioneering deep-sea research and discovery since 2009, on board their old vessel RV Falkor and their new RV Falkor (too). Their remotely operated vehicle (ROV) SuBastian is equipped with a suite of sensors and a 4K camera that has illuminated the depths and live-streamed dives around the world. Most footage shown is filmed and provided by SOI. Huge thank you to them for contributing their footage, and working with me to create this series! Check out their website: https://schmidtocean.org/

Music Used:

Most tracks sourced from Artlist, aside from a number of wonderful original elements, themes and motifs crafted by the fantastic Robb Taylor ​⁠(@robbtaylormusic on Instagram). Check out his website at robbtaylor.org

00:00 - Introduction to the Deep Ocean
00:52 - The Zones of the Deep Ocean
03:32 - Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs)
04:50 - Entering the Midnight Zone (Bathypelagic)
06:22 - Deep Sea Adaptations - Soft Bodies
07:02 - Deep Sea Adaptations - Gigantism in Greenland Sharks
07:51 - Deep Sea Adaptations - Ctenophores (Comb Jellies)
09:54 - Deep Sea Anglerfish - Bioluminescence & Parasitic Males
11:16 - Fusiform, Compressiform & Globiform Fish
13:44 - Midnight Zone Fish - The Sawtooth Eel
14:29 - Midnight Zone Fish - The Snipe Eel
15:47 - Midnight Zone Fish - The Gulper Eel
16:34 - Deep Sea Adaptations - Ultra-Blackness
17:32 - Midnight Zone Fish - Dragonfish
18:09 - Midnight Zone Fish - Toothy Viperfish
19:06 - Midnight Zone Fish - Pacific Blackchin
19:54 - Midnight Zone Fish - Chimaera (Holocephali)
20:35 - Deep Sea Cephalopods - The Dumbo Octopus
21:55 - Deep Sea Cephalopods - An Overview
22:58 - Deep Sea Cephalopods - Whiplash Squid
24:40 - Deep Sea Cephalopods - Strawberry Squid
26:27 - [Sponsored Interlude]
27:36 - The Aphotic Zone
28:13 - Deep Sea Cephalopods - The Glass Octopus
30:07 - Active Predators - Twilight Zone Squid
30:54 - Active Predators - Humboldt Squid
32:12 - Deep Sea Detritivores - Marine Snow
32:33 - Deep Sea Detritivores - The Vampire Squid
33:22 - A Deep Sea Mother - The Black-eyed Squid
35:15 - The Barrel Amphipod (Phronima)
35:49 - Deep Sea Larvae
36:38 - Deep Sea Hitchhikers
37:43 - Deep Sea Jellyfish - Deepstaria
38:48 - Deep Sea Jellyfish - Big Red Jelly (Tiburonia)
39:23 - Deep Sea Jellyfish - Giant Phantom Jelly (Stygiomedusa)
42:12 - Deep Sea Jellyfish - An Overview
42:50 - Siphonophores - Structures and Varieties
45:34 - Siphonophores - Splitting the Stem
48:48 - Cycles of Life & Nutrients - A Woodland Parallel
52:16 - Swimming Sea Cucumbers
53:38 - Introducing the Deep Sea Floor

CHECK OUT MY DEEP SEA WEBSITE: https://naturalworldfacts.com/deep-sea-hub/