Steve Jenkins - Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea

A JOURNEY TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA

DOWN
DOWN
DOWN

VIPERFISH

HATCHET FISH

STEVE JENKINS

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN BOOKS FOR CHILDREN
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT
BOSTON 2009

For my motherS.J.

Copyright 2009 by Steve Jenkins

All rights reserved. For information about permission to reproduce
selections from this book, write to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt Publishing Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York,
New York 10003.

Houghton Mifflin Books for Children is an imprint of Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

www.hmhbooks.com

The text of this book is set in Helvetica Neue.
The illustrations are cut and torn paper collage.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jenkins, Steve, 1952
Down, down, down : a journey to the bottom of the sea / by
Steve Jenkins. p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-618-96636-3
1. Marine animalsJuvenile literature. 2. Deep-sea animals
Juvenile literature. I. Title.
QL122.2.J46 2009
591.779dc22
2008036082

Printed in China
WKT 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Viewed from space, the earth looks like a watery blue ball. Oceans cover more than two-thirds of the globe's surface, and well over half the planet lies beneath water more than a mile (1 kilometers) deep. We have explored only a small fraction of the oceans. In fact, more humans have walked on the moon than have visited the deepest spot in the sea.

In this book, we'll descend from the ocean's surface to the sea floor and travel through one of the most extreme environments on earth. Along the way we'll encounter some unusual creatures. You can find out more about these animals at the back of the book.

Above the Surface

Here, just above the surface of the western Pacific Ocean, the air is warm. Below us gentle swells move across the water. It's calm now, but during a storm powerful winds can churn the surface into mountainous waves. The Pacific Ocean is the largest body of water on the planet, with an area greater than all the earth's dry land combined. At this spot the water is more than 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) deep.

Most life on land is found in a zone only a few hundred feet thick, from the tops of the trees to just beneath the ground. The oceans, on the other hand, average two and a half miles (4 kilometers) in depth. They are home to the vast majority of living things on our planet. The water below us teems with life. Sometimes, without warning, the creatures of this hidden world burst into our own ...

PORTUGUESE MAN-OF-WAR

ALBATROSS

The Surface

0 FEET (0 METERS) 75 F (24 C)

DEEPEST SPOT IN THE OCEAN
35,838 FEET (10,923 METERS)

Out of the Water

They may be pursuing prey, escaping danger, or sending a message to others of their kind. Whatever the reason, sea creatures sometimes leap from the water into the air. A huge shark, surging upward to grab its prey, lands with a splash that could empty a swimming pool. A small, sleek squid barely misses us as it shoots by, slipping back into the water with barely a ripple. Other creatures break the surface as well...

GREAT WHITE SHARK

FLYING SQUID

FLYING FISH

SPINNER DOLPHIN

The Surface

0 FEET (0 METERS) 75 F (24 C)

It's a Small World

Near the surface the water is warm and brightly lit by the sun. Light-loving plants, algae, and bacteriamost single-celled and too small to see with the naked eyeare found here in uncountable numbers. Almost all life in the sea depends on these microscopic organisms, which use the sun's energy to help them manufacture their own food. They themselves are food for billions of animals, including shrimplike krill. Krill and other small organisms that drift along with ocean currents are called plankton. Mackerel and other fish gather in enormous schools to feed on plankton.

MACKEREL

KRILL

The Sunlit Zone

10 FEET (3 METERS) 73 F (23 C)

BLUEFIN TUNA

SHEARWATER

SAILFISH

MACKEREL

Big Fish Eat Little Fish

At a depth of just 33 feet (10 meters), the sunlight is already beginning to fade. The pressure is increasing. When we are above the surface, the weight of the air over our heads presses on every part of our bodies. This pressure isn't noticeable unless it changes, as when our ears pop in a fast elevator ride. Water is much heavier than air, and already the pressure has reached two atmospherestwice what we experience out of the water. We are about as deep as most humans can dive without scuba gear.

Life flourishes here. Large, fast-swimming predators eat smaller fish, herding them together into large swirling balls. Seabirds, some capable of diving to depths of 220 feet (67 meters), attack from above. Other animals feed on seaweed or jellyfish.

GREEN SEA TURTLE

MOLA MOLA

The Sunlit Zone

33 FEET (10 METERS) 73 F (23 C)