The Deep Sea • Hacker News Board

Re: The Deep Sea

#11

Post by lovecg » Sat, Dec 21, 2019, 7:55 PM UTC

kh_hk wrote: post #9

wishinghand wrote: post #4

The site mentions the Trieste reaching Challenger Deep and how a window cracked on the way down. I can't imagine wanting to reach it so badly that they'd risk the implosion. I guess death at that depth has the benefit of being instant.

If you are interested, one of piccard books, Au Fond Des Mers en Bathyscaphe, explains everything from a personal perspective. It contains many engineering details that are deeply interesting

Do you by any chance mean “Seven Miles Down: The Story of the Bathyscaph Trieste” by Jacques Piccard? I can only find the title you mentioned by Auguste Piccard, a different explorer.

Re: The Deep Sea

#12

Post by blotter_paper » Sat, Dec 21, 2019, 8:18 PM UTC

On mobile, my URL bar being displayed adds about 2 meters to the depth that any given creature can survive. I suggest that divers start putting URL bars at the top of their masks.

Re: The Deep Sea

#13

Post by mikebelanger » Sat, Dec 21, 2019, 8:29 PM UTC

Nice! Also liked the trivia 'snuck' into certain depths, like the deepest scuba dive at 332 meters.

Re: The Deep Sea

#14

Post by hoorayimhelping » Sat, Dec 21, 2019, 8:42 PM UTC

I kept thinking "wow, that has to be the deepest diving air breathing animal here," and I kept being amazed at how deep some animals can dive.

Re: The Deep Sea

#15

Post by nexuist » Sat, Dec 21, 2019, 8:47 PM UTC

alister wrote: post #10

I wonder what prevents a fish that goes down to 100 meters from going down to 300 meters or 3000 meters. Does it feel an internal pressure that tells it to not dive further, or is it the amount of light or availability of food it seeks? Since fish wouldn't suffer from decompression sickness, I wonder if they could dive much deeper if they wanted to. Now that I think about it, I've scuba dived to 130 feet and it didn'…

External pressure. It might be easier for you to survive at 130ft because you have a sturdy rib-cage and skull that keeps your internals together. Fish do not get this luxury. It might be entirely possible for a fish to swim down to 3000 meters, but I think evolution probably played a role in killing off all the fish who decided to risk it and swim that deep. As a result, "modern" fish probably experience more anxiety or similar emotions as they go deeper.

Re: The Deep Sea

#16

Post by almost_usual » Sat, Dec 21, 2019, 9:05 PM UTC

Great site, it brought back nostalgia of reading deep sea books as a kid.

Re: The Deep Sea

#17

Post by luhn » Sat, Dec 21, 2019, 9:10 PM UTC

I was Googling some creatures that caught my eye, including the Megamouth Shark at 4600 meters. The sources I read put it at 1000 meters at the deepest, but preferring much shallower waters. Am I overlooking something?

Regardless, fun and interesting webpage!

Re: The Deep Sea

#18

Post by jimmyswimmy » Sat, Dec 21, 2019, 9:11 PM UTC

nexuist wrote: post #15

alister wrote: post #10

I wonder what prevents a fish that goes down to 100 meters from going down to 300 meters or 3000 meters. Does it feel an internal pressure that tells it to not dive further, or is it the amount of light or availability of food it seeks? Since fish wouldn't suffer from decompression sickness, I wonder if they could dive much deeper if they wanted to. Now that I think about it, I've scuba dived to 130 feet and it didn'…

External pressure. It might be easier for you to survive at 130ft because you have a sturdy rib-cage and skull that keeps your internals together. Fish do not get this luxury. It might be entirely possible for a fish to swim down to 3000 meters, but I think evolution probably played a role in killing off all the fish who decided to risk it and swim that deep. As a result, "modern" fish probably experience more anxiet…

I think this is wrong but I am not a biologist. Fish do not contain air, which is the compressible fluid which limits our ability to go to great depths unprotected. Water is very incompressible, and is most of what fish are. So I don't think depth is the issue.

I would hazard a guess that it has to do with where food is.

Re: The Deep Sea

#19

Post by rwmj » Sat, Dec 21, 2019, 9:11 PM UTC

Elephant Seals dive to 2400 meters and Cuviers Whales to 3000 meters? That's incredible for a mammal.

Re: The Deep Sea

#20

Post by kh_hk » Sat, Dec 21, 2019, 9:16 PM UTC

lovecg wrote: post #11

kh_hk wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are interested, one of piccard books, Au Fond Des Mers en Bathyscaphe, explains everything from a personal perspective. It contains many engineering details that are deeply interesting

Do you by any chance mean “Seven Miles Down: The Story of the Bathyscaph Trieste” by Jacques Piccard? I can only find the title you mentioned by Auguste Piccard, a different explorer.

Father and son