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withstand the pressure. We now have submarines that can stay on the ocean floor for a few hours and are capable of tagging some species of sharks. All of these things help us learn more about the mysteries hiding in the ocean depths. Water becomes colder the deeper it gets. It also becomes darker because the sun’s rays do not penetrate the water so far down. Oceanographers need to find ways to account for both the cold and the darkness, which makes it difficult to study the deep ocean. Sharks that live in these deep waters have developed many ways to make it possible to survive. This is why the sharks that we have discovered in the deep ocean often look different than the ones we see in shallow waters. A new type of shark is discovered every few years, but it is possible that we have not discovered many of the inhabitants of these waters. Considering that we have yet to explore nearly 95 percent of the oceans, there are many mysteries to be discovered. Scientists believe that we know more about outer space than we know about what lives in the water on our own planet!

This dwarf lantern shark is one of the smallest sharks found in the deep ocean.

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