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📖 Reading Passage

The Race to the Deep

For centuries, the deep ocean remained more mysterious than the surface of the Moon. Sunlight cannot reach below about 1,000 metres, so the deep sea is permanently dark and crushingly cold. The pressure there exceeds 600 times the air pressure we feel at sea level — enough to crumple most materials instantly. Yet life thrives. Strange fish with translucent bodies drift through the blackness. Giant squid longer than a school bus lurk near the bottom. Tiny organisms called chemosynthetic bacteria fuel entire food webs by converting chemicals from hydrothermal vents — cracks in the ocean floor where scalding water and minerals gush up — into energy, with no sunlight required at all. Many creatures produce their own light through a process called bioluminescence. A deep-sea fish might use a glowing lure dangling in front of its mouth to attract prey. A squid might flash patterns of light to confuse a predator. Scientists estimate that up to 90% of deep-sea animals are bioluminescent. Studying these creatures is expensive and difficult. Most ocean floors have been mapped only at low resolution — we know the surface of Mars better than our own ocean bed. But accelerating interest in medical breakthroughs — compounds from deep-sea organisms have already led to cancer treatments — is pushing governments and private companies to invest in better submersibles and remote-controlled vehicles.