The Ocean is Way Deeper Than You Think

The water is extremely deep, much deeper than most of us realize. If you shaved all of the land from the tops of every continent and island on the planet and filled the ocean’s deepest points with it, the earth would covered in a 2 mile-deep ocean. But water already covers three-quarters of our world, and it extends much further than two miles. Let’s begin with a sense of proportion.

This dot is about the size of a typical human.

An elephant is the size of this slightly larger dot. And this is the size of the Knock Nevis, the world’s largest ship. With that in mind, let’s get down to business and see what we can learn. At 40 meters below the surface, the maximum depth allowed for recreational scuba diving, the first milestone is reached. The wreck of the Lusitania was located a bit deeper down at 93 meters, which is significant because the Lusitania is 240 meters long, which means it sank in water shallower than it is long.

The ship would be jutting out of the water if it was standing on its stern or bow. Dive just a little deeper, at 100 meters, and decompression sickness can be deadly if you’re not careful. That didn’t stop Herbert Nitsch from setting a new world record for free diving at a depth of 214 meters.

With just one breath, this guy swam down to this level. However, at 332 meters, we have the scuba diving world record, which set by Ahmed Gabr.

He could have reached the height of the Empire State Building. If it had been immersed in water if he had swum another 111 meters. At 500 meters below the surface, we reach the maximum dive depth of Blue Whales. The world’s largest mammals, as well as the maximum dive depth of the US Seawolf Class Nuclear Submarine.

Emperor Penguins can seen diving to a maximum depth of 535 meters. And this is one where we need to increase the water pressure intensity. The water pressure put on a person or penguins at this depth would be roughly similar to a polar bear standing on a quarter.

So, at 830 meters below sea level, the height of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest skyscraper, will reached. We enter the dangerous zone after we reach 1,000 meters below the surface. The rest of the water below is permanently dark since light from the surface can no longer penetrate beyond this point.

Furthermore, the water pressure you would be experiencing at this point would be similar to that of standing on the surface of Venus, implying that you would perish rapidly. If the water pressure didn’t kill you already, you’d encounter the Giant Squid at this sea level.

The Leatherback Sea Turtle can dive to a maximum depth of 1,280 meters. If the Grand Canyon were to be underwater with us. We would reach the deepest section of it at 1,828 meters.

At 2,000 meters, we begin to encounter some of the more horrific marine animals, such as the Black Dragonsih, a voracious beast with a stomach that does not allow light to pass through it. Because we’re underwater and in complete darkness, the only way to see this creature is with a flashlight. We would reach the maximum depth dived to by both Sperm Whales and the terrifying Colossal Squid a bit further down at 2,250 meters.

Sucker marks and scars on the body of Sperm Whales are common during conflicts with the Colossal Squid. Which are likely to occur at these extraordinary depths. Squids can reach 14 meters in length and 750 kilograms in weight. With eyes the size of a dinner plate and razor-sharp sickles in the centre of their tentacles. So, good luck down there with that. The wreck of the RMS Titanic can be fInd at a depth of 3,800 meters.

We enter the Abyssal Zone of the water a little further down at 4,000 meters.

Down here, the water pressure reaches an incredible 11,000 pounds per square inch. The Fing Tooth, Angler Fish, and Viper Fish are just a few of the odd, almost alien-like animals that live in these depths. The average depth of the ocean is 4,267 meters, which is where you would ordinarily anticipate to strike the bottom. However, there are places of the ocean that are much deeper than this. The debris of the battleship Bismarck, sunk during World War II, is located at 4,791 meters.

At 6,000 meters, the Hadal Zone begins, named after Hades, the god of the underworld. At these depths, the water pressure can reach 1,100 times that of the surface. Which is roughly equivalent to an elephant resting on a postage stamp or a single person supporting the weight of 50 Boeing 747 jumbo jets.

Without any exterior protection, you would crushed instantly at these depths. However, life continues to exist in a variety of bizarre forms down below. We reach the maximum depth that the DSV Alvin, a popular research submarine that assisted in the discovery of the Titanic, can dive to at 6,500 meters.

We’ve reached the height of Mt. Everest, if it were turned upside down and placed underwater, at 8,848 meters below the surface. Then, at 10,898 meters, we arrive at the depth attained by James Cameron during the Deep Sea Challenger Mission in 2012. The deepest point of the ocean yet achieved by humans was in 1960, when two men named Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard used their Trieste submarine to reach a depth of 10,916 meters.

It took them five hours to dive to this deep in the ocean. They were barely there for 20 minutes before a window cracked and they emerged. We’ve reached the average flight height of a commercial airliner at 10,972 meters, just a little further down. So, if you’ve ever glanced out a window on a plane and down to the ground. You have a good idea of how far down into the abyss we are now.

Finally, at 10,994 meters, we reached the bottom of the known ocean. The Challenger Deep, which is located roughly 300 kilometers southwest of Guam Island on this map. However, it is widely assumed that there are very certainly other deeper regions of the ocean that have yet to be discovered. After all, it wasn’t until 1997 that the Sirena Deep, at a depth of 10,732 meters, was discover. Making it the second deepest known point in the ocean. Only around 5% of the ocean’s floor has accurately mapped. Leaving the remaining 95% a mystery for the time being. It may only be a matter of time before we discover a deeper area of our ocean.

Who knows what we might find there.