The mystery of the ocean from the eyes of science and sailor

Recently I saw a tweet being retweeted on my timeline and it was a long thread basically about the ocean.I have always been a fan of water, both sports and its creature. So reading this tweet, it opened another ocean inquisitive hunger in me. The tweet was so interesting to the point that for every line I have a picture in my head and opened my imagination like I was seeing it for real.

Did you know that there are different layers to the ocean and that not all sea creature has been discovered or named?. Well reading this tweet and reading more about the ocean opened my eyes to this. Today I threw open one of the questions if truly mermaid or manmaid exist in the sea. Some said yes while this pikachu man @reazuliqbal said No. Sailors believe that just like we have human on earth to lord over the land creatures, so do we have mer/man maid in the sea to lord over the sea creature.

In my quest for this topic, I discovered a video which I will be sharing below of a creature the scientist termed to be a mermaid captured in the recording of a submarine ship travelling under water. It is said to be a mermaid and it is actually looking ugly unlike the ones we are used to seeing on television.

What I noticed in the video is strength at which a single touch could shake the means of transport (submarine ship). There was a little turbulence in the ship when the creature touched it. This affirms my readings from the tweet I discovered about an ex-sailor who narrated his experience on ship. He said that one of his colleagues went out for a cruise alone in a smaller boat in the evening. After 30 minutes of his solo ride, they heard him scream, the workers on the ship set out to rescue him with another boat and on arrival, they noticed that he had fainted. They brought him back to the ship and revived him. When he regained his senses, all he kept on chanting was he saw a manmaid and he rocked his boat from under and also hit im with what he was not sure of. While the ship crew tried to calm him down, he kept on murmuring this and in about an hour he became dumb and suffered a partial stroke, this issue later confirmed to the crew that mer/man maid truly exist.

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I found out that there are different zones in the ocean and not the usual we are shown on television. We have the :

• Sunlight (euptoic) zone: Also known as the Epipelagic Zone, this part is termed to be the daylight zone where little harmless mammals reside which is why fishing is easy for people. It also explains why the temperature of the water can't be predicted in this part of the sea.

• Twilight (Dysphotic) zone: Known as the Mesopelagic Zone, this zone is where the light fades away, it starts 200 meters away from sea level. Here we can start to see different harmful creatures because little lights gets to this part of the sea.

• Midnight (aphotic) zone: Called the Bathypelagic Zone or the dark zone due to the absence of light. It begins from 1000 meters - 4000 meters of the ocean where the water pressure is on the high side and most creatures in this part are either black or red. The only light emanating from this zone is derived from the creatures themselves and this is where the extremity of the water begins.

• The Abyss zone: Interpreted as endless from Greek and fondly called the Abyssopelagic Zone. It sits from 4000 meters to 6000 meters and here the water is at a freezing level with no light whatsoever. Only invertebrates creatures can be found in this part of the sea.

• The Trenches zone : Hadalpelagic Zone is known as the forbidden zone and the water temperature is above freezing. From 6000 meters of the ocean can be said to be the trenched part and this are affiliated to canyons and deep water trenches.

I also learnt that every divers are advised to not get to 3000 feet when diving because that point is the Midnight zone.

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Research also shows that there are rivers within the ocean. While some speculate that this rivers are freshwater river and totally different from the ocean salty ones, some say they are rivers that flows while pushing some sands and particles at a specific time or duration. Some scientist also claim that this rivers are 5 times salty more than the ocean water and that whosoever enters the river will die and horrific death. Which is why sea creatures steer clear of them and that this river do not mix with the ocean water.

There are also valleys, hills, plant, trees and mountains in the ocean. Just like we have on earth, so do we have in the ocean. Because of lack of photosynthesis, this sea creatures only thrive on bacterias.

The ocean is a very interesting field of study that awakens excitement in one. I love the fact that it is unpredictable and is filled with wonders. I am scared of the ocean and I make sure not to wonder past the edge of the ocean when I go to the beach.The current and waves scares me but I love seeing others swim in it. I am also scared because of the myth surrounding water in my country. That there are creatures in the sea who lures fine girls and boys into there realm to be lost in the sea forever. Some part of the country even worship the river goddess and seek for the fruit of the womb and peace in the land.

I hope you enjoy this article as much as I loved writing it and I hope one day I get to see a live recording of a new discovery mainly on mermaid or manmaid just to spite @reazuliqbal.

some of my information was found online using google. I also found some interesting information in this Oceanography by James Rennell.