The Secret Life of Brine Pools

Deep Sea Brine Pools appear to be biological dead-zones in the ocean, and yet an astounding abundance of ocean life can be found lining the shores of these toxic lakes. Mussels, hagfish, crabs and even sharks frequent these isolated hotspots to hunt.

A community of uniquely adapted organisms is able to thrive on the brine pool shore; in a similar fashion to the life that inhabits deep sea hydrothermal vent communities, we find organisms capable of chemosynthesis, as well as other organisms preying on them – all interacting and existing on the borders of a toxic pool of brine. As the energy here is largely supplied by chemosynthesis, rather than sunlight, brine pools also mirror hydrothermal vents in demonstrating how the extreme deep sea ecosystem is unique in the ways in which it supports life. There are no photosynthesising primary producers converting sunlight to energy, as the light of the sun cannot reach these depths. Instead, energy is supplied by the Earth itself.

00:00 - An Introduction to Brine Pools
01:39 - Brine Pool Origins - Formation in the Gulf of Mexico
03:01 - Brine Pool Origins - Landforms and Features
04:10 - Life on the Edge - Hot Tubs of Despair
05:31 - Life on the Edge - Biological Hotspots
06:54 - Life on the Edge - A Chemosynthetic Oasis
07:54 - Life on the Edge - Ecological Interactions
09:12 - Life on the Edge - A Delicate Ecosystem
09:38 - Conclusion

Narrated by Leo Richards
Co-written by Leo Richards and Blake Frutiger

Blake's socials:

I do not own any of the footage. I write the script, narrate, and edit what footage I can find, which is allowed due to YouTube's 'Fair Use' policy as these films are for educational purposes. Footage used belongs to the incredible marine conservation societies of Schmidt Ocean Institute, MBARI, WHOI and the Ocean Exploration Institute, along with various other YouTube sources.

Music Used:
Wonder by VYEN
Ambient Sci-Fi Music by Eon
Inhale by VYEN
Signal To Noise by Scott Buckley
Storyteller by O.B.

#deepsea #wildlife #nature #documentary #ocean #marinebiology #science #biology

Bibliography:

[peaches]

My baby brother just died at 20 a week ago. I’ve been binging on your videos and have found so much comfort in learning in my grief. I see the way nature plays out and how beautiful everything in the now truly is. Thank you for giving me peace. ❤️❤️

[TaliZVasTyria]

First time I see a real life brine pool environment in a game is subnautica. It was haunting

[demetrialowther]

I remember as a kid watching "The Blue Planet" doco and on episode 2 they covered the deep sea. As kids, my brother and I were absolutely obsessed with that particular episode out of all of them and few things fascinated me more than when the episode showed a brine pool. It was just mind blowing, eerie and strange. Sort of a morbid curiosity almost, a place of darkness and in many ways, fear and so absolutely bizarre. Even now I still get chills seeing footage of these places. While the physics of how they exist makes sense, they just don't feel like they should. Cold, hazy lakes of death on the floor of the oceans in the eternal gloom.

[FlubbyTheFoolish]

i heard that these are usually filled with sulfur and lots of other bad.. stuff, too. yeah.
thanks nordman for making this video poosible

[Beryllahawk]

How fascinating! I'd heard of brine pools before this but never have I heard such a succinct and clear explanation of why they exist at all. Great job on this script, I learned quite a lot!!
The footage you've shown is just as mesmerizing - especially given that one aspect of learning more about such incredible oases of life gives us clues and hints as to what kinds of living creatures we might find on truly distant shores - on other worlds. Just imagine if we found similar critters on Europa - even finding "boneyards" of dead bivalves would be more indication that we're not the only life in the solar system than we've ever had. And these animals look SO strange compared to the life we're so familiar with - even the crabs look weirder than usual!
Just a wonderful video all around! Thank you again for all your hard work on these!

[agentham]

I love that learning about the secrets of the deep sea is like time traveling in a way. We get to see glimpses into the past by learning about organisms similar to our marine ancestors. What a truly fascinating world.

[AvanaVana]

I would just like to clarify that it is less the “weight” of overlying sediments that deformed the Mesozoic salt deposits of the the GoM, and rather the salt’s own low density relative to the overlying sediment. This density contrast is what is responsible for “salt tectonics”, and it allows the salt to rise in diapiric structures called “salt domes” and merged groups of these structures form “salt canopies”. The movement of these salt and other evaporites causes faulting and deformation in the surrounding sedimentary rock, and it is these faults that conduct the brine to the seafloor.

Also, it’s not just bacteria that form the primary production at brine pools, but also archea, which are more closely related to humans than bacteria.

[LKonstantina]

brine pools are so interesting. Even though they are toxic, they create such an amazing environment that can also sustain life.

[astrumespanol]

Crazy to see deadly lakes in the depths of the sea. You are one of the best narrators in YouTube ❤️

[CosmicShieldMaiden]

I’ve been watching your videos daily, they are so calming and informative! Thank you for all that you do! I truly enjoyed these videos very much!🖖❤️🐡🐟

[toastlord]

Just discovered this channel, what a gold mine

[DanCooksFood]

I just realized this is what Goo Lagoon from SpongeBob is based on

[renetravers]

Who knew these baron plains could be so fascinating, it was spooky to see all those dead crabs and thinking they could have been that way for hundreds of years but looking like they died last week.
Thanks for the vid mate

[seafossil]

I feel like it would be interesting to take the very old preserved specimens from the pools and compare them with new specimens of the same species to see how many changes and adaptations have occurred within that time. Adding previously preserved ones to fill in that time gap between the brine specimen and most recent one could also be helpful. From there a long term study can take place where every couple of years or so a fresh new specimen is added to the collection and compared with the older ones.

[serenitymoon]

Honestly, you could be the David Attenbourough of this generation, your narration is so soothing and wonderful to listen to ❤

[d.w.stratton]

"Highly toxic death traps for many creatures." Oh, so you've met my ex then?

[MisterMeowstic]

I'm so happy that you did a video on this! I always thought that the concept of underwater lakes was so cool, but it is difficult to find detailed information on this ecosystem. You continue to be one of my favorite channels on YouTube for feeding my vast curiosity of the ocean depths!

[Kelkworth]

Thermal vents -> War
Brine pools -> Death
Whale Falls -> Pestilence
? -> Famine

[meddena]

Just discovered your channel, can't believe you started it at the age of 8. It's so impressive! Love the narration, the layout of every video, even the stock footage. Your videos are like literal documentaries! Excited to watch anything you put out 🙂

[colourfulsouls]

Please make a video you make on brinicles aka “frozen fingers of death”!! I’d love to learn more about them and your videos are very informative and relaxing
(If you don’t have one already, but I didn’t see one on your channel)