A recent underwater expedition has revealed a thriving network of creatures at the bottom of deep-sea ocean trenches. These extreme environments, with crushing pressure, scant food, and no sunlight, pose immense survival challenges. While tiny microbes are known to prosper, evidence of larger marine life has been scarce.
Using a submersible, researchers exploring the Kuril–Kamchatka and Aleutian trenches in the northwest Pacific found tubeworms and molluscs flourishing over 31,000 feet (9.5 kilometres) deep. The ocean's deepest point is approximately 36,000 feet (11 kilometres).
