A scientific examination of the Tasman Fracture Zone by a group of scientists (including some from CSIRO and the California Institute of Technology) uncovered 274 of the freakiest deep-sea animals ever known. Of course all deep-sea animals have a little bit of freak in them. Actually they are all typical deep-sea animals, larger sea spiders, carnivorous sea squirts, etc. Nothing to see so move along.
At 3500 metres were millions of sea anemones, Dr Thresher revealed.
“They had never been described before. They had never even been observed before,” he said.
“The entire bottom was covered in these things as far as you can see and it was just completely unexpected to see this huge dominant community down there.”
For those of you not spending enough time in Google Earth, you can find the study site at -47.995166°, 139.550986°
Deep sea freaks sounds like a good subject for a kids’ non-fiction book.