Scientists Make Chilling Discovery at the Bottom of Red Sea

Bright Side

Scientists recently found something eerie at the bottom of the Red Sea: "death pools" with no oxygen. Any animal that swims into these pools is immediately stunned and dies, making it easy prey for nearby predators. These deadly waters are also home to special microbes that can survive in such extreme conditions. By studying these pools, scientists hope to learn more about how life began on Earth. They’re also curious about what this could mean for discovering life on other planets with harsh environments. It's a chilling, yet fascinating discovery!  Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV   Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en   Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

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00:00So, a mysterious discovery was made deep in the Red Sea – the so-called Death Pools.

00:06That's scary.

00:07In 2020, researchers embarked on a dive into the Red Sea.

00:11The mission spot was in the Gulf of Aqaba, between Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

00:16Near the end of their expedition, as they ventured deeper into the darkening waters,

00:21they noticed some strange seaweed floating above the seafloor.

00:25They decided to use a remotely operated vehicle and investigate it.

00:29Suddenly, they discovered these strange, motionless lakes of water within the sea.

00:37These are called brine pools.

00:38They're basically pockets of salty water deep on the ocean floor.

00:42And when I say salty, I mean it.

00:45Sometimes they're up to 8 times saltier than the ocean water itself.

00:49Mysteriously, they don't mix well with the surroundings.

00:52They formed millions of years ago, sometime during the Miocene Epoch, back when weird

00:57creatures roamed the Earth, like me, and deeply buried mineral deposits dissolved into

01:02the water.

01:03The largest pool spans about 170,000 square feet.

01:07Meanwhile, three smaller ones are under 107 square feet each.

01:12At first, this discovery didn't seem that scary.

01:15But here's why they're so horrifying.

01:17Not only are they disgustingly salty, they also lack oxygen.

01:22Now hold on a sec, isn't that normal for something that's underwater?

01:26Well, it turns out, the Earth's waters are full of oxygen, and at least half of this

01:31element on our planet comes from the oceans.

01:34Just like plants on land, marine plants, such as phytoplankton, seaweed, and algae, munch

01:40on sunlight and produce oxygen through photosynthesis.

01:43They release lots of it into the surroundings.

01:46Marine life then eats half of it, so only about a quarter of the oxygen that we breathe

01:51actually comes from the oceans.

01:53Just like us, sea creatures need this element to survive.

01:56Without it, they can't breathe and support their metabolism to live.

02:00That's why these pools are super dangerous for most of them.

02:03It's like a puddle of thick syrup for bugs.

02:05When they get in, the poor things immediately suffocate and pass away.

02:10Which is why the pools are surrounded by a graveyard of marine animals.

02:14But let's see how these things can exist in the first place.

02:18Have you ever tried making ice cubes from salty water?

02:21Spoiler, it's pretty hard.

02:23When you add salt, the water gets harder than usual to freeze.

02:26A phenomenon that has a funny name – freezing point depression.

02:30That's because salt interferes with the hydrogen bonds between water molecules.

02:36As it finally freezes, stuff like particles, dirt, or dissolved salts get pushed out to

02:41the sides.

02:42As a result, the salts kind of squeezed out of the ice crystals and get trapped near the

02:47edges in small bubbles or pockets.

02:50Something similar happens in the ocean, when seawater starts freezing under super-cold

02:55polar caps.

02:56The salt doesn't freeze with the water.

02:58Instead, it gets pushed out, forming a super-salty cold liquid – the brine.

03:03And then it sinks down to the ocean floor.

03:06On a large scale, all this process also helps currents to form.

03:10Despite being so dangerous, the pools are still full of microbial life.

03:15Because microbes couldn't care less – they'll survive anywhere.

03:18There are literally thick mats of them in the brines.

03:21There are also some salt-loving creatures, like shrimps and eels, hovering around the

03:26pool's edges.

03:27They're being super-creepy, waiting to catch unsuspecting prey that ventures too close

03:32to the toxic death pool.

03:35It sounds icky, I know, but this discovery gives us some fascinating insights into how

03:39life might've originated on Earth.

03:42We already know from the evolution theory that we came from the ocean, but now scientists

03:47think that life might've begun in the deep sea in some super-dark, oxygen-free places.

03:53These brine pools are like time capsules – they're one of the closest things we've found to

03:58the early Earth.

03:59They can tell us the planet's history of earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, and more.

04:03For example, they have some traces of rainfall that happened over a thousand years ago.

04:09And they can also help us search for life on other water-rich planets.

04:13For example, Mars most likely used to have huge oceans on it.

04:17Now NASA scientists want to send a special instrument called HABIT for a special red

04:22planet mission to study things similar to our brine pools.

04:26This will tell us more about how life appears and survives in the universe.

04:32There is lots of unexplored fascinating stuff like this in the Red Sea.

04:36That's why scientists conducted the so-called Decade Expedition and spent around 5 months

04:41exploring the place.

04:43This expedition was launched by the National Center for Wildlife.

04:46They made so many remarkable discoveries that now we've got 77 new research papers.

04:52For example, they found over 10 blue holes – incredible underwater sinkholes that host

04:58unique ecosystems.

05:00They also learned that dolphins can use those blue holes to protect their young from predators.

05:05Scientists also found traces of great white sharks – a creepy community of deep-sea

05:10lanternfish living in low-oxygen conditions, and even a new coral species.

05:15It's the most resilient deep-sea corals that also vibe just fine without oxygen, like

05:21microbes we mentioned.

05:23Speaking of which, research also showed us some new ancient thermal vents and large blobs

05:29of microbial formations near Farasand Island.

05:33Now can you believe that with all that, we only explored 5% of the ocean?

05:38It's divided into several layers based on depth.

05:41Each layer becomes darker and more isolated from sunlight as we go deeper.

05:46The places that no sunlight can reach are terrifying.

05:49Now the fun, cute layer with dolphins and turtles is called the epipelagic, or sunlight

05:55zone.

05:56It's so tiny, but even this layer is about 650 feet deep.

06:01Then we have the mesopelagic, or twilight zone.

06:04It's the layer of mysterious octopus, shark, and other loners which extend to about 3,000

06:10feet down.

06:11And then the horrors begin after this one.

06:14We encounter the bathypelagic, or midnight zone.

06:18It extends to 13,000 feet below the surface, about a half of Everest above you.

06:23Here we have the famous poor blobfish, squids, and anglerfish.

06:29Below it is the abyssal zone.

06:32It extends to about 20,000 feet deep.

06:35Since there's not much sunlight or oxygen, as we mentioned, most creatures here are quite

06:39small like tubeworms and shrimp.

06:42The darkness continues until we arrive at the scariest place of the planet.

06:47The place full of trenches, formed by tectonic plate movements.

06:50The hadal zone.

06:51It's named after Hades, the deity of the underworld in Greek mythology.

06:56Just like Hades' realm is dark, remote, and guarded, the hadal zone is the deepest

07:01and most depressing part of the ocean.

07:03It starts at depths of around 20,000 feet and can go down to 36,000 feet and more.

07:09The famous Mariana Trench also belongs to this zone.

07:13Only 3 people in history have ever explored these depths in person, making it one of the

07:18least explored and most mysterious places on our planet.

07:22However, despite crazy high pressure, near freezing temperatures, and complete darkness,

07:27there are still things who manage to survive here.

07:30Things like amphipods, which are critters who feed on dead material sinking from above,

07:36and the hadal snailfish, which lives as deep as 27,000 feet.

07:41So scientists used to assume that if there's no sunlight, there wouldn't be that much

07:45oxygen around.

07:46But one day, a research team decided to measure the levels of oxygen in one of those deep

07:51zones.

07:52Surprisingly, the levels were super high.

07:55They checked the equipment, thinking that it was malfunctioning.

07:58Nope, all the sensors showed the same thing.

08:01Turns out the oxygen was somehow generated by rocks.

08:06These small potato-sized rocks on the seafloor are called polymetallic nodules.

08:10They're rich in metals like copper, nickel, and cobalt.

08:14And they're basically like small batteries.

08:17When you put a battery in salt water, it can produce bubbles of gas, a process called electrolysis.

08:23In the same way, these rocks create tiny electric currents, which are powerful enough to produce

08:28the same gases, splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.

08:32It's the first time we saw oxygen being produced by some non-living minerals.

08:38This is what scientists now call dark oxygen.

08:41It turned out that about half of large marine species, or megafauna, were living just on

08:46dark oxygen alone.

08:48All these discoveries are reshaping our understanding of where and how life could evolve.

08:54That means that we might be able to find life on other planets or satellites with low

08:58oxygen conditions.

09:00Like in Satellus and Europa, the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and they have large bodies

09:04of frozen water on them.

09:07Wow!

09:08That's it for today, so hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like

09:13and share it with your friends!

09:14Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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