Thalassophobia In The Sunless Sea

Lance Douglas Nature October 17, 2016

When I was very young, I wanted to be a marine biologist. Unfortunately, this dream came to a gradual halt as I matured and developed a case of thalassophobia. Thalassophobia is described as a deep and persistent fear of the sea, and is estimated to affect less than one percent of the United States population. Despite my unfounded distrust, I still love to read about marine explorations, and become delighted upon news of recently discovered sea life. For the most part, marine biologist Rachel Carson makes several good points throughout her essay, “The Sunless Sea,” but I feel that it could serve to be updated with more recent information. According to scientists, two thirds of our oceans remain unexplored;

Nautilus is a research vessel used to rove the world’s oceans, search the depths for undiscovered life, map the ocean floor, and scrutinize sections of uncharted subaquatic earth. “Now, much more is known about the deepest parts of the ocean because new submersible robots have made it possible to explore miles below the surface.”(P.574) This ship carries four different Remotely Operated Vehicles, all of which serve distinct purposes. Designed to traverse the ocean floor, Hercules is the primary search and examination apparatus of Nautilus. Alongside Hercules, Argus is always employed to observe and ensure safe travel and piloting. Of course, exploration tools would be useless without a way to map the location, and this is where Diana and Echo come in. These two are equipped with state of the art sonar imaging technology, designed to give the Nautilus crew a 400 meter wide viewing radius. It is these devices that work hand in hand to make Nautilus the premier research vessel of our time. Furthermore, it is with this technology that we have uncovered many new life

Off the coast of the Mariana Islands resides a seven mile deep crevasse, completely devoid of light; all sunlight ceases at 3,000 feet as it enters the aphotic zone. Once in this zone, “the eyes of fishes become enlarged, as though to make the most of any chance illumination of whatever sort, or they may become telescopic, large of lens, and protruding.”(P.628) Of this canyon, the deepest part is the Challenger deep, which has been measured to go as far down as 36,000 feet. At this depth, the immense weight of the water above crushes down on anything below, and has more than hindered our efforts to explore the