TED: Life In The Deep Oceans- Answers
- What does David think about the Titanic? It's not the most exciting story from the sea.
- How deep are the oceans, on average? 2 miles (= 3.2km)
- The oceans have most of what things? Most of the Earth's animals, earthquakes and volcanoes.
- What's the name of the submarine they use? Alvin.
- Marcell Proust said, "The true voyage of discovery is not so much in seeking new landscapes as in having new eyes."
- What kind of animal is one of his favourites? What is special about it? How long does it get? A jelly(fish). It's one of the longest creatures in the ocean, up to 150 feet (=50m).
- What is most of the biomass of the oceans made of? Jellyfish and animals like them.
- What 3 things do the jellyfish use their bioluminescence for? Attracting mates, attracting prey, communication.
- How long can some of these little understood animals become? 140 to 160 feet long (about 50 metres).
- What strange thing do the "octopods" do to their submarine? They'll put their eyes up to the window and look inside.
- What is the importance of these video images to scientists? They can see the animals in the environment they live in, instead of caught in a net.
- What places does the Mid-Ocean Ridge pass through? "… the Caribbean, Central America, and end up against the Pacific."
- What separate ways do the researchers normally see the underwater world? In separate ways, as sound, video, photos or chemical sensors, but not as a combined picture.
- What temperature can you get at a hydrothermal vent? How far underwater are they? 600-700 degrees Fahrenheit (320-370 degrees Celsius).
- Hydrothermal vents are caused when water gets into cracks in the seafloor and comes into contact with magma that heats it up.
- What is the white material seen on the hydrothermal vent chimney? It's a type of bacteria that can live at 180 degrees Celsius.
- With no sunlight, all the energy to support life at these depths comes from inside the Earth.
- What does a tube worm normally do when it's touched by a crab? It retracts.
- What extreme temperatures do the worms shown like to live in? Their foot is at 200C, their head is at 3C.
- How many new species were counted on a recent dive? 198.
- Why is the camera technology so important for this science? The animals can disintegrate if brought to the surface.
- What is the white mark on the back of shrimp for? It's an eye that can detect heat.
- What does David say to indicate how poisonous the vent emissions are? "This stuff is toxic as hell, by the way, you could never get a permit to dump this in the ocean."
- What important event in the history of life do some scientists say happened at these vents? Life evolved here.
- What comparison does he make between the vents and the rainforests? They have a higher biodiversity.