Deep Sea Wonders of the Pelagic Zone

The open ocean is an entirely different world to the benthic zone of the sea floor. The endless blue stretches away in all directions, while the black abyss hangs gaping below. Currents are stronger here. There is no shelter to be found, and food is hard to come by. But all the same, a plethora of life has found ways to survive here, from the surface, all the way down into the abyss, utilising some unexpected adaptations to overcome the challenges of life in the open ocean. We’ll begin our investigation at the surface of the high seas. Of all the zones of the open ocean, here is the most abundant. Whales glide through the waves, pods of dolphins ride the powerful currents, and all manner of pelagic creatures can be found feeding at the surface. The secret to its diversity is sunlight, for here is the photic zone, also called the epipelagic or sunlight zone. Light from above is able to penetrate down to a depth of 200 metres, and within this uppermost layer, phytoplankton is able to undergo photosynthesis to provide food for the life here in the upper water column. Part 1 | Demersal Deep Sea Life: https://youtu.be/iE-Tx1JvNIc DEEP SEA HUB: https://naturalworldfacts.com/deep-sea-hub 00:00 - Introduction: The Benthic and Pelagic Zones 01:00 - The Open Ocean Explained 01:37 - Biodiversity in the Pelagic Zone 01:56 - Life in the Photic Zone [0-200m] 02:54 - Adaptations in the Photic Zone 03:37 - The Ocean Sunfish 03:59 - The Marine Pelagic Environment 04:47 - Life in the Mesopelagic Zone [200-1,000m] 05:03 - The Pelagic Nutrient Cycle 05:32 - Adaptations in the Deep Pelagic Zone 05:50 - Why Demersal Life is More Abundant 06:39 - Abyssal Gigantism Explained 07:33 - Adaptations of the Greenland Shark 07:46 - How the Pelagic and Demersal Zones are Connected 08:27 - Advantages of Pelagic Life 09:25 - The Limitations of Pelagic Life 09:41 - Explaining the Colours of Pelagic Creatures 10:08 - Conclusion: The Adaptability of Life 11:18 - The Deep Sea Hub Footage used belongs to Schmidt Ocean Institute, MBARI, OceanX and the Ocean Exploration Institute. #deepsea #wildlife #nature #documentary #ocean #marinebiology #science #biology Music Used: 1812 Overture - Tchaikovsky Eight Mountains - Savfk June - Bobby Richards Down - Joey Pecoraro The Hunt - Savfk Resources: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/pelagic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelagic_fish#Epipelagic_fish https://www.marine.usf.edu/pjocean/packets/f98/f98u3le3.pdf https://www.britannica.com/science/pelagic-zone https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/pelagic-species