The deep sea is an unexpected, but at-risk, trove of biodiversity

In the past, scientists thought of the deep ocean as a cold, dead place. While the region—generally considered to be everything between 200 and 11,000 meters in depth—is undoubtedly cold, it actually holds unexpected biodiversity.

“Back in the 1970s, there was this myth of the deep sea as this empty desert wasteland with nothing alive. For many years, we’ve known this is absolutely false,” Julia Sigwart, a researcher at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Germany, told Ars.

However, the abyss and the life within it remain poorly understood, despite making up around three-quarters of the area covered by the ocean. At this year’s United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15), Sigwart and her international colleagues presented a policy brief that urges more support for research into the biodiversity of the deep ocean, particularly as the region begins to be threatened by human activities.