At the bottom of the ocean skulks some of the domain ’s most weird and marvelous creatures . Fromsharks that look direct out ofJurassic Park , tovampire squidandviperfish , there is undoubtedly much more to be come across within the 80 percent of undiscovered sea on our major planet . Now , agroup of scientistsare mark to research a massive 130 - meter ( 425 - foot ) puritanical maw that conk directly into the ocean storey .
sit just off the coast of Florida , the gamy hole make Green Banana is to be explore as part of an ongoing 3 - yr expedition to let out what lie in the pit of Florida ’s Gulf continental shelf . Thesedeep , abyssal sinkholesare teeming with fresh microscopic life that give researchers insight into the ecosystems of the ocean floor and beyond .
Scientists from Florida Atlantic University , Georgia Institute of Technology , Mote Marine Laboratory , and the US Geological Society will record the sink along with monitoring equipment to review the intact region – all the way to the bottom , 130 meters below ocean degree .
The prima donna , due to take part next month , is part of a serial publication of diving planned over 2020 - 2021 that aim to sympathise the ecosystems ofblue holesand whether Green Banana is connected to Florida ’s groundwater system . Back in May 2019,divers entered the Amberjack Holeoff Sarasota , Florida to collect water samples and plant high layer of radon and radium – mark for the presence of groundwater – and hope the foreign mission into Green Banana will further illuminate how it might connect the Floridian Aquifer to the Gulf of Mexico .
Amongst these markers , the diver found two deceased smalltooth sawfish at the bottom of the Amberjack Hole . The larger of the two measured an incredible 3.7 measure ( 12 feet ) long , and was reclaim for a necropsy . deoxyribonucleic acid from the native microbes in the water sample was extracted , and combined with data point from the dives contrive in August and next class , the team hop to more accurately map the microbiome of these oceanic sinkholes .
turn back out the picture of the bottom of the Amberjack Hole below .
NOAA , one of the primary funders for this expedition , explicate : “ Blue holes are various biologic communities full of nautical life , including corals , quick study , mollusks , sea turtles , shark , and more . The brine chemical science in the holes is unequaled and appears to interact with groundwater and possibly aquifer stratum . ”
