Scientists have discovered rare deep-sea brine pools in the Red Sea which have become a death trap for marine animals.
Scientists said the pools are extraordinarily salty and devoid of oxygen. As a result, any animal that strays into it is immediately stunned or killed.
According to the study published in Nature journal, the pools were discovered 1.7 kilometers beneath the surface using a remotely operated underwater vehicle. Researchers came across it during the last five minutes of a 10-hour dive.
They explained that brine pools are a depression in the seafloor filled with highly concentrated salt water and other chemical elements which is saltier than the surrounding ocean.
Lead author Sam Purkis, a professor and chair of the Department of Marine Geosciences at the University of Miami, told Live Science, that the deadly pools as “among the most extreme environments on Earth” and that “any animal that strays into the brine is immediately stunned or killed.”
Interestingly, other marine animals such as fish, shrimp, and eels seem to be using these pools as a hunting ground. These predators lurk near the pools and “feed on the unlucky” creatures that inadvertently swim into it and are stunned and killed immediately, Purkis said.
