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You are fine. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Smartasaurus interactive

The Descent

Scroll from the surface to the deepest point on Earth. 10,935 metres straight down. It gets darker the further you go, and it does not get friendlier.

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Sea level

One atmosphere. Sunlight everywhere. Keep scrolling.

3 m

Why are whales washing ashore, dead?

Scientists are stumped by these mysterious whale deaths. We need to find out what's happening

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5 m

Baby sharks sniff out their kin

turns out these pups have a hidden talent: recognizing family members by their unique scent

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10 m

Basketball-sized jellyfish can stop your heart

This giant bell-ringer isn't just big, it's a real heart-stopper

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20 m

Jellyfish that cheats death and gets young again

this little guy can rewind its entire life cycle. pretty neat, huh?

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25 m

Tiny fish build ocean floor masterpieces

This tiny fish works for a whole week to make giant sand art

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32 m

Sea lions are secretly watching you

Turns out, they're as curious about us as we are about them!

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40 m

Recreational scuba limit

Past this, ordinary air becomes dangerous to breathe.

48 m

Sharks don't fear you, they just ignore you

Turns out you're not scary enough to bother them. Here's what they notice

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65 m

Ghost nets haunt the ocean

those lost fishing nets are a silent killer for ocean life

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110 m

Whales could fit a tiny human inside

Seriously, a whole person fits inside some whales. Here's the breakdown

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200 m

The twilight zone

Sunlight is now too weak for photosynthesis. Plants stop here.

240 m

Your bathtub could hold a fortune

yep, there's enough gold in the ocean to make us all rich

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330 m

Octopuses have alien brains and three hearts

These smarties have blue blood and brains that work totally unlike ours

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500 m

Giant crabs defy the ocean's biggest rule

These deep-sea giants are growing larger than anyone predicted, breaking all the rules

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700 m

Ocean lights up at night for real

tiny creatures turn the deep sea into a glow-in-the-dark masterpiece

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820 m

Cold water gave sea spiders giant legs

Their chilly ocean home made these strange sea creatures grow to epic sizes

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1,000 m

The midnight zone

The last of the sunlight is gone. 101 atmospheres. Everything below this is permanently dark.

1,100 m

Squid eyes are the size of dinner plates

Seriously, some squid eyeballs are as big as your plate. What's up with that?

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1,300 m

Shark shoots its jaw out like a cannon

This shark's jaw unhinges at lightning speed to snag its next meal

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2,000 m

Sperm whale hunting grounds

An air-breathing mammal is still down here, holding its breath.

2,500 m

Life thrives where light never reaches

Talk about a party crashing! Creatures bloom in oceans' darkest caves, totally sun-shy

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3,800 m

The Titanic

Resting on the abyssal plain in near-freezing black water.

4,200 m

Gravity disappears at this ocean spot

It's like a giant hole in gravity's pull, and scientists aren't sure what's causing it

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5,000 m

Submarines designed to cheat crushing ocean pressure

Dive too deep and the ocean's pressure can instantly flatten a submarine. But these vessels hide a counter-intuitive secret to survive.

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6,000 m

The hadal zone

Named after Hades. Only ocean trenches go deeper than this.

8,000 m

The ocean floor kills you really fast

You might be a strong swimmer, but the deep sea is a whole different beast

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10,000 m

Can a jumbo jet fit on a basketball court?

You think the ocean's deep? Some things are even stranger, and way down there

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10,935 m

Challenger Deep

The bottom. Fewer people have been here than have walked on the Moon.

You made it to the bottom

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Around a quarter of the ocean floor has been mapped in detail. Everything else down there is still unopened.

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