• Question: how can marine animals reach the deepest part of the ocean but humans can't?

    Asked by 457sprg52 to Stephanie, LauraAnne, Katy, Helen, Emilia, Dan, Andrew on 8 Nov 2016.
    • Photo: Katy Griggs

      Katy Griggs answered on 8 Nov 2016:

      Great question. Marine animals that are able to reach the bottom of the ocean have evolved so physiologically they can cope with the environment. At the bottom of the ocean its incredibly cold (-1 to 4C), pitch black darkness and the pressure is thousand times the standard atmospheric pressure at sea level. The human body would not be able to withstand this pressure. Humans have never needed to able to live at the bottom of the ocean so we have not evolved to cope with these environments.

    • Photo: LauraAnne Furlong

      LauraAnne Furlong answered on 9 Nov 2016:

      Exactly what Katy said…different species have evolved over millions of years to adapt to their environment. We’ve never had to live in that sort of environment, instead our bodies have adapted to living on whichever part of the earth we live on. An example of this is people who live at altitude, they live on high mountains. As you go up a mountain, there is less oxygen in the air for our body to use. This is why moutaineers will sometimes carry a tank of oxygen to use if they are scaling a mountain like Mount Everest, as their lungs and bodies simply can’t operate at those low levels of oxygen. People who have been born and always lived at those heights however have hearts and lungs that have adapted to the environment, so they are better able to use the lower amounts of oxygen available. This is one of the reasons put forward for why the Kenyans and Ethopians are such good marathon runners, they have hearts and lungs that can work better when there is less oxygen available to their working muscles.

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