Could climate change drive deep-sea creatures to the surface?

Yet, as fascinating as this event is, it raises many questions as to why the fish made it to the surface in the first place. Experts have mentioned many possibilities from strong currents to disease but one sticks out – climate change. Will climate change cause deep-sea creatures to come to the surface more often, or was the Black Sea Devil incident an isolated event?

As the world warms up, so does the oceans. The ocean absorbs 90% of the heat caused by climate change, leading to a rise in ocean temperatures. As such, this leads to a change in the ocean current patterns affecting the distribution of heat and nutrients within the water.

Moreover, climate change continues to cause a great imbalance of oxygen within different areas of the ocean. This thermal stratification reduces the supply of oxygen to deeper waters, expanding the oxygen minimum zones.

With the waters warming up and leading to deoxygenation, it may make deep-sea environments inhabitable for many species. The oceans may also face a particulate organic carbon flux (POC) – organic particles generated through the metabolic processes of marine organisms such as phytoplankton cells and bacteria.

Remember the marine snow mentioned earlier? That’s what this is. If POC levels to the bottom of the ocean are reduced, that translates to less food available for deep-sea organisms affecting the food web. So, in order to find more oxygen, food, and possibly a less toxic environment, these deep-sea creatures may surface.

Aside from this, due to the substantial changes in the entire ecosystem, marine creatures are prompted to migrate towards the poles rapidly where cooler waters are. Among these creatures, deep-sea species are moving at rates up to four times faster than surface creatures.

Using computer simulations, it was revealed that by the end of the century creatures in the mesopelagic layer (Twilight Zone), a layer above the Midnight Zone, will migrate up to 11 times faster than creatures on the surface.

Fret not, this is why we have deep-sea research! With the depths of the ocean playing a crucial role in storing carbon dioxide (which ultimately helps reduce atmospheric CO2 levels), much research has focused on carbon sequestration.

The ocean is nature’s greatest carbon sink, absorbing a massive amount of greenhouse gases. Too much of it is bad, however, which is why experts are finding the right balance to this method. Other research includes investigations of how the process of heat capture or storage in the ocean can be optimized or leveraged to offset its effect on the marine ecosystem.

Such research is vital in ensuring the protection and preservation of deep-sea ecosystems. Additionally, understanding how human actions are impacting creatures of all zones in the ocean will inevitably prompt governance frameworks to be developed on climate change solutions.

Ultimately, one can only hope that the surfacing of the Black Sea Devil is an isolated incident and that deep-sea creatures are not forced from their lowly dwelling. Time will soon reveal the truth, either way.