Though some get instagram likes the hard way, this Russian fisherman’s photographs have gone viral these last few weeks as he shared numerous photographs of what appear to be different kinds of fish and sea life that were caught via his fishing trawler vessel. Because he often goes deep-sea fishing in the Barents Sea and Arctic Ocean near Russia, things tend to wander into his fishing nets from time to time while he's fishing for other kinds of fish.
The photos were originally shared via his Instagram account, and show a wide range of different kinds of sea creatures that all look like they should exist on another planet.
This here is a frilled shark:
This is a deep-sea redfish:
Whatever this is, it just looks ridiculous:
This appears to be a ghost shark:
Although these fish are mostly already known species, it goes without saying that these are fish you don't typically see all the time from your everyday run of the mill fishing trip. Many of these fish exist at depths of around 630-3,300 feet below the surface, which is known as the Mesopalegic zone. It's not the absolute bottom of the ocean, but it's only the next level up.
Many more photographs of additional oddity fish creatures can be seen on @roman_fedortsov's Instagram page. Beware that while some look pretty neat, others might give you nightmares.
A lot of the life that dwells at the lowest depths of our oceans is bizzare to us simply because we don't know much about it. It's difficult to study things we can't see, and with two major roadblocks keeping us from exploring these depths: the lack of light and the crushing pressures, the kinds of life that exist there may continue to slip from our understanding.
Making matters even more difficult, these fish can play tricks on the eyes because they've evolved to camouflage with their environment, which is essentially near pitch darkness.
It's true what they say about not knowing what's just under your feet in the ocean; fortunately, these live so deep under the water that they'd never bother you up near the surface.
Source: Instagram via Business Insider