A New Way to Keep Deep-Sea Creatures Alive at the Surface
Short Shelf Life Animals that thrive deep below the sea's surface [such as, at 6,000 feet, Mirocaris fortunata shrimp, shown here] can withstand surface pressure for only a few weeks. Oceanopolis The problem: Although scientists have been studying deep-sea animals since the 1860s, they still don't know much about them. That's in large part because the fish, octopuses and other creatures that thrive at the bottom of the ocean die quickly at the surface. In some cases, the lower pressure and higher temperature melt the lipids in their cell membranes. Even hardier animals, such as crabs, can survive at sea level for no more than a few weeks. The solution: The AbyssBox can keep deep-sea fauna alive above sea level for months, and possibly much longer. Biologists from the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris and the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea spent three years developing the 1,300-pound,...