A Deep-Sea Bestiary

  • By Peter Tyson
  • Posted 03.30.99
  • NOVA

The ocean depths are home to a phantasmagoria of bizarre creatures, ranging from the footballfish to the "vampire squid from hell." Living in the dark at crushing depths, the animals seen here are rarely observed by human beings. The photographs, which are of deceased creatures brought up from the deep, were shot by famed underwater photographer Norbert Wu. The drawings, by celebrated marine artist Richard Ellis, appear in his book Deep Atlantic.

Launch Interactive

View a phantasmagoria of bizarre ocean creatures, ranging from the footballfish to the "vampire squid from hell."

This feature originally appeared on the site for the NOVA program Volcanoes of the Deep.


Sources

Ellis, Richard. 1996. Deep Atlantic: Life, Death, and Exploration in the Abyss. Knopf.

Credits

Images

All drawings
Richard Ellis, from Deep Atlantic: Life, Death, and Exploration in the Abyss (Knopf, 1996)
Photos
© 2005 Norbert Wu.

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