Into the Midnight Zone: Secrets of the Ocean Void

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 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. Support my work on Patreon: Get your hands on DEEP SEA MERCH: Episodes: 1 - The Twilight Zone - 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: 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 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: #deepsea #wildlife #nature #documentary #ocean #marinebiology #science #biology