The Deep

A World Oceans Day Meditation

Ocean Zones

The ocean is layered like a living building, each floor a different world.

Sunlight Zone (Epipelagic)
0-200m
Where light penetrates, where life thrives
Twilight Zone (Mesopelagic)
200-1000m
Fading light, where bioluminescence begins
Midnight Zone (Bathypelagic)
1000-4000m
Eternal darkness, crushing pressure
Abyssal Zone
4000-6000m
The abyss, cold and still
Hadal Zone
6000-11000m
The trenches, deepest mysteries

By the Numbers

36,000
feet - deepest point (Challenger Deep)
12,100
feet - average ocean depth
200
meters - limit of sunlight
1,000
meters - total darkness begins

At the deepest point, pressure reaches 8 tons per square inch - the equivalent of 50 jumbo jets stacked on a person.

                        .
                      .' `.
                     /  _  \
                    :  (_)  :
                     \     /
               _.--._,' `,._.--._
            .-'                  `-.
          .'                        `.
         /                            \
        :         .-.      .-.         :
        |        (   )    (   )        |
        :         `-'      `-'         :
         \                            /
          `._                      _.'
             `"-.              .-"'
                  `'---...---'`

A blue whale can dive to 500 meters and hold its breath for 90 minutes.