Full Fathom 5000: The Expedition of the HMS Challenger and the Strange Animals It Found in the Deep Sea [Hardcover]

This book gives an account of the remarkable discoveries that were made during the 1872-1876 voyage of the HMS Challenger, and it describes the strange and bizarre creatures that live in perpetual darkness a kilometer or more below the surface of the sea. The journey had momentous consequences: not only uncovering a whole vast new range of animals whose existence had never before been suspected but also initiating the systematic exploration of the oceans.The deep sea covers more than half the surface of the Earth, but until the circumnavigation made by the HMS Challenger almost nothing was known about the animals that live there.Full Fathom 5000gives an account of the remarkable discoveries that were made during the voyage and describes the strange and bizarre creatures that live in perpetual darkness a kilometer or more below the surface of the sea.Until the early 1870s, very little was known about the creatures lurking in the depths of our oceans. People had found a few things trapped in fishing gear or caught on the anchors of ships, but those who tried to venture to the bottom of the seafloor often died before they made it there. The first systematic investigation into life in our oceans was made during the circumnavigation of the HMS Challenger. Scientists credit this voyage as the beginning of modern oceanography, and the story of it is full of twists and turns. It led to the discovery of a whole new fauna previously unknown, whichFull Fathom 5000describes for the first time in one place for readers. In this book, Graham Bell takes readers through the voyage station by station, following the progress of the expedition and introducing some of the new and strange animals that were hauled up from the depths of the ocean and seen by human eyes for the first time. You will meet, among others, the ugliest fish in the world, flesh-eating clams, dwarf males, sea devils, and an octopus that wears lipstick.The book begins with a description of the firsl(