Scientists descend to the depths of the ocean and are going to be surprised

A group of scientists carried out, at the end of last March, the first trip to the third deepest oceanic trench on Earth, more than 10,000 meters below the surface, and was surprised to find there plastic and garbage.

the Emden deep, part of the Filipino trench coat, is one of the last frontiers of the Earth and is a section unexplored. The first humans to descend there were the Filipino microbial oceanologist Part of Florence Onda, from the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of the Philippines, and the American explorer Víctor Bishop. As the Channel News Asia portal reports, the two are part of Caladan Oceanic, a private organization dedicated to the advancement of submarine technology.

“You don’t know what to expect. It was really the mental preparation to be in a small submersible without panicking while you dive and you say goodbye to the world “, Onda told.

During 12 hours, Onda and Vescovo came down and they explored the trench, hoping to glimpse the life below. The first description of the Filipino trench dates from 1950 and the second from 1970. However, the technology at that time was not precise, so descending this space was a great opportunity.

“When we were about to hit rock bottom, I expected to see scary things who crawled in or out of the windows, ”Deo revealed. However, what they found was similar to what you see on the surface. “There was a fun scene when we were exploring the area. There was white material floating around. I told Victor it was a jellyfish. We went and got closer and it was just Plastic», He recalled with reference to the amount of waste they found in the Filipino trench.

“The only unusual thing was the garbage. There was a lot of garbage in the trench. There was a lot plastics, a trousers, nail shirt, a Teddy bear stuffed animals, wrappers and many plastic bags. Even I did not expect this and do research on plastics, ”said the oceanologist.

“See it for the first time it was a privilege as a human being and representing 106 million Filipinos and billions of people around the world, ”he said, moved. Onda argued that most of the things he teaches were written by Western scholars, so “seeing it” for himself was like a “fairy tale”. “I saw how light dissipates with depth. I watched the pressure rise, then the temperatures drop, and all this physics, chemistry, and biology of oceanography come true. It was a fantasy for me“, Express.

However, he was also saddened: “But to witness the extent of contamination and attend the gravity The problem with plastics from the surface to the bottom of the ocean is something else. It is my responsibility to tell people that their waste does not stay where they put it. It goes to another place and it will sink “

The research mission is study the life cycle and the role of microorganisms, like phytoplankton, which helps produce oxygen and are part of main drivers of energy accumulation and biomass in the marine ecosystem. “Microorganisms are the main drivers of carbon storage, which then leads to climate change. When phytoplankton consume carbon, taking carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, it turns it into particulate organic matter which sinks to the ocean floor and is stored for millions of years, ”Onda explained.

The expert clarified that the extent of biodiversity in these high seas environments is not known and the full extent of its process functions is unknown. biogeochemicals.

Studies show that the deepest layers of the ocean warm up more slowly than the surface. However, The exposure to global warming of organisms present in these environments can be more severe and present greater risks.

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