A local newspaper in the island nation of Maldives reported on Monday that scientists on the Nekton Maldives Mission had found proof of ‘The Trapping Zone.’ It was 500 metres below the surface and was called ‘a paradise of oceanic life.’
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih of the nation praised the discovery and said, ‘The Trapping Zone and the oasis of life in the depths surrounding the Maldives provides us with critical new knowledge that further supports our conservation commitments and sustainable ocean management, and almost certainly supports fisheries and tourism.’
There is video evidence taken by the scientists using the camera on the Omega Seamaster II submersible which was combined with the biological samples collected, said the report by The Times of Addu.
Professor Lucy Woodall, the Nekton Principal Scientist, added that after performing extensive sonar mapping, they discovered megafauna predators like sharks and other huge fish feeding on swarms of micro-nekton, which are tiny organisms that can swim independently of the water current. At 500 metres, these species are similarly imprisoned by the subaerial terrain.
Furthermore, they usually migrate from the deep sea to the surface at night and back into the deep at dawn, this phenomenon is known as Vertical Migration. However, it seems like the steep vertical cliffs and shelving terraces along with volcanic subsea strata and fossilised carbonate reefs which form the base of the Maldivian atolls, reportedly do not let these organisms dive deeper.
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