The deep sea is one of the largest, most remote, and unexplored environments on Earth. Deep-sea ecosystems are challenging to study given their extreme pressures, cold temperatures, and intense darkness. Studying small, carefully collected biological, geological, and water samples from deep-sea environments provides a record of these unexplored areas, helps scientists create well-informed hypotheses about the larger ecosystem, and creates a baseline for future comparisons.

Learn more about the types of samples that are collected during deep-sea exploration and the various tools and technologies used to sample in our print friendly fact sheet!