How deep does the ocean actually go?

If you were to submerge the highest point on land into the ocean, you'd still have over a mile of water above you before reaching the deepest ocean trench. These underwater depths house an astonishing 99% of Earth's living space and contain enough water to fill a colossal bathtub that stretches 685 miles in every direction. To provide some perspective, here's a human, and here's a blue whale, the largest creature on our planet. Blue whales typically hunt at depths around 330 feet, basking in the well-lit zone of the ocean.

Venturing deeper, at 700 feet, the USS Triton made history in 1960 by becoming the first submarine to circumnavigate the Earth. At 831 feet, we reach the deepest point a human has ever free-dived. Here, the pressure is a staggering 26 times greater than at the surface, enough to crush most human lungs. Yet, astonishingly, whales dive to even greater depths, with a maximum depth of around 1,640 feet, where they pursue giant squid.

Descending further, at 2,400 feet, we enter the danger zone for modern nuclear attack submarines, as any deeper would result in implosion. At 2,722 feet, you'd reach the height of the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. Pushing even deeper, at 3,280 feet, we reach a point where sunlight can no longer penetrate—the midnight zone. Here, many creatures are blind, like these eyeless shrimp thriving near scalding underwater volcanoes.

At 7,500 feet, temperatures are just above freezing, but near hydrothermal vents, water can heat up to a scorching 800 degrees Fahrenheit. The deepest any mammal has been recorded swimming is 9,816 feet, achieved by the Cuvier's beaked whale. However, even this remarkable feat doesn't come close to exploring the RMS Titanic, resting at an astonishing depth of 12,500 feet. The pressure here is 378 times greater than at the surface, yet life persists, including creatures like the fangtooth fish and dumbo octopus, the deepest-living octopus on Earth.

At 20,000 feet lies the Hadal zone, encompassing the ocean's deepest trenches, such as the Mariana Trench. If you were to place Mount Everest into the Mariana Trench, its summit would extend down to 29,029 feet. This, however, pales in comparison to the two deepest manned missions in history. In 2012, director James Cameron descended to 35,756 feet aboard the Deep Sea Challenger, but he fell short of the record set by oceanographer Jack Piccard and Lieutenant Don Walsh in 1960. Piccard and Walsh reached the ultimate depth at Challenger Deep, an astonishing 35,797 feet below the ocean's surface.

Since then, scientists have dispatched numerous unmanned submersibles to explore Challenger Deep, including Kaiko, which cataloged over 350 seafloor species between 1995 and 2003. Nonetheless, scientists believe there are potentially thousands of marine species yet to be discovered. Our exploration of Earth's oceans has barely scratched the surface, with estimates suggesting we've examined just 5 to 10% of this deep, enigmatic world beneath us.

The ocean is a vast and mysterious realm that covers over 70% of our planet's surface, holds a profound significance for life on Earth. Its sheer size and depth, with the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean reaching the deepest depths on our planet, captivate our imagination and curiosity. Beyond its physical enormity, the ocean plays a pivotal role in shaping our world. It acts as a climate regulator, absorbing and redistributing heat, influencing weather patterns, and stabilizing temperatures. Furthermore, the ocean is an oxygen factory, with phytoplankton producing a substantial portion of the world's oxygen through photosynthesis. Its biodiversity is staggering, with countless species, many of which remain undiscovered. Coral reefs, in particular, stand out as vibrant oases of life in this underwater world.

However, the ocean faces an array of challenges in the modern era. Climate change is causing rising sea temperatures, ocean acidification, and sea-level rise, all of which pose threats to marine ecosystems and coastal communities. Overfishing, plastic pollution, and habitat destruction are further jeopardizing the health of this invaluable resource. Conservation efforts, scientific research, and international cooperation are increasingly vital to safeguard the ocean's delicate balance and protect the incredible diversity of life it harbors. Our understanding of the ocean continues to deepen, offering hope that we can work collectively to preserve this wondrous and essential part of our planet for generations to come.