Marine explorers have shared a video of marine snow: natural matter that repeatedly falls from shallow waters all the way down to the deep sea.
“Marine snow drifts like a quiet symphony by the deep sea, carrying vitamins to maintain life within the ocean’s darkest reaches,” says Mattie Rodrigue, Science Programme Director at OceanX.
“You most likely wouldn’t wish to make a snow angle in it although or catch flakes in your tongue,” says OceanX in its video. “Most of it’s properly… poop, and useless crops and animals. But to tiny animals within the deep ocean it’s scrumptious.”
By falling to the seafloor, marine snow gives meals for animals within the deep sea the place it’s too darkish for daylight to achieve. The particles that aren’t eaten create a layer on the seafloor that construct up steadily over time – at a charge of about six metres each million years, based on OceanX.
“It’s a humbling reminder of the intricate cycles that join each layer of our blue planet,” says Rodrigue. “Every particle tells a narrative of life, loss of life and rebirth, sustaining an ecosystem we’re simply beginning to uncover.”
Image and video: OceanX
More superb tales from around the globe