🌊The Deep Sea

Sea level0 m

The ocean covers about 71% of the planet and holds around 97% of its water.

Bottlenose dolphin4 m

Usually surfaces every few minutes, though it can hold a dive for far longer.

Coral reef10 m

Reefs cover under 1% of the ocean floor but support around a quarter of all marine species.

Recreational diving limit30 m

About as deep as most recreational scuba certifications allow.

Common octopus60 m

Has around 500 million neurons — most of them in its arms rather than its head.

Great white shark100 m

Ranges through the upper water column and has been tracked well below 1,000 m.

End of the sunlight zone200 m

Below this, there is not enough light for photosynthesis.

Deepest scuba dive332 m

The record set by Ahmed Gabr in 2014 — it took him about 15 minutes down and 14 hours back up.

Emperor penguin535 m

The deepest recorded dive by a bird, on a single breath.

Vampire squid700 m

Lives where oxygen is too low for most animals, and eats mostly marine snow.

Start of the midnight zone1,000 m

No sunlight at all from here down. Most light you would see is made by animals.

Anglerfish1,200 m

The lure glows from bioluminescent bacteria living inside it.

Sperm whale1,800 m

Hunts squid on dives that can last over an hour.

Hydrothermal vents2,000 m

Whole ecosystems here run on chemical energy from the vents, not sunlight.

Leatherback turtle2,992 m

The deepest dive recorded for any reptile.

Wreck of the Titanic3,800 m

Resting on the sea floor since 1912, and still slowly being eaten by bacteria.

The abyss begins4,000 m

Water here sits a little above freezing, under roughly 400 atmospheres of pressure.

The trenches begin6,000 m

Only a small fraction of the sea floor is deeper than this.

Deepest fish ever filmed8,336 m

A snailfish recorded in 2022 in the Izu-Ogasawara Trench off Japan.

Challenger Deep10,935 m

The deepest known point in the ocean. Pressure here is over 1,000 times what you feel at the surface.