unilad homepage
unilad homepage
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • World News
    • Crime
    • Health
    • Money
    • Sport
    • Travel
  • Music
  • Technology
  • Film and TV
    • News
    • DC Comics
    • Disney
    • Marvel
    • Netflix
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Archive
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Underwater deadly ‘hot tub of despair' kills almost everything that enters it
Home>News>Travel
Published 16:57 29 Jun 2024 GMT+1

Underwater deadly ‘hot tub of despair' kills almost everything that enters it

The so-called 'hot tub of despair' apparently 'pickles' animals that get to close to it

Niamh Shackleton

Niamh Shackleton

google discoverFollow us on Google Discover
Featured Image Credit: Ocean Exploration Trust/NOAA / YouTube/EVNautilus

Topics: Mexico, Science, Environment, Nature, Travel

Niamh Shackleton
Niamh Shackleton

Niamh Shackleton is an experienced journalist for UNILAD, specialising in topics including mental health and showbiz, as well as anything Henry Cavill and cat related. She has previously worked for OK! Magazine, Caters and Kennedy.

X

@niamhshackleton

Advert

Advert

Advert

While hot tubs are supposed to be seen as a relaxing experience, there's one in Mexico that you'll want to stay clear of.

Deep in the ocean of the Gulf of Mexico there's a little-known about pool that been named as the 'hot tub of despair'.

While it sounds like the title of a corny horror movie, the ocean pool is very real (and very toxic).

Dead sea creatures were discovered in the deep ocean pool. (YouTube/EVNautilus)
Dead sea creatures were discovered in the deep ocean pool. (YouTube/EVNautilus)

Advert

The discovery was made by a team of researchers from Nautilus Live in 2015 who used remotely operated vehicle (ROV) named Hercules to explore the Gulf of Mexico's cold seep features.

The ocean exploration trust's website explains that these are 'locations where hydrocarbons that are normally trapped deep beneath the seafloor escape into the water column'.

This particular 'tub' is located almost 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) beneath the waves and measures 30.5 metres (100 feet) wide and 3.7 metres (12 feet deep).

At seep sites like 'the hot tub of despair', seawater mixes with ancient salt deposits found deep in the seafloor which goes on to create a brine that can be four times more saline than usual seawater.

Only some species of mussels and sea worms are able to live there. (YouTube/EVNautilus)
Only some species of mussels and sea worms are able to live there. (YouTube/EVNautilus)

And the brine that's expelled is extremely toxic to almost-all sea creatures apart from a few types of mussels and sea worms who have managed to adapt to such an environment.

The temperature of the water there also plays a part in making the area pretty much inhabitable. It's warm waters of 19°C is how it got it's quirky 'hot tub' name.

A video of the discovery was shared at the time the ocean pool was discovered where the scientists marvelled at what they saw.

“These larger organisms really don’t like to be in this fluid - or maybe they just come here to die," Scott Wankel, a marine chemist, said in the footage.

Gushing about the unique discovery, Erik Cordes, who co-authored a study on the extraordinary find, added: "We’ve known about [brine pools] for 30 years, [but] this one was pretty spectacular when it was found.

"It’s one of the coolest ones I’ve seen."

Other science fans were also amazed by their findings and commented their thoughts on YouTube.

"It's both amazing and depressing how much we still don't know and will probably never know about this planet," one person wrote.

A second said: "So you mean there's another kind of water underwater? I love scientists!"

A different person penned: "This is really amazing! You guys are doing incredible work!"

Choose your content:

2 hours ago
6 hours ago
7 hours ago
  • Win McNamee/Getty Images
    2 hours ago

    Trump revealed to have bought over $1M in Dell stock months before Pentagon signed $9.7B deal

    The Defense Department announced its 'largest to date' $9.7 billion deal with Dell on May 28

    News
  • Getty Stock Images
    6 hours ago

    Doctors say they're seeing more GLP-1 users with rare ear disorder that can cause people to hear their own blood

    GLP-1 medications have seen a huge increase in popularity

    News
  • Supplied
    6 hours ago

    Former gambling addict reveals amount he lost in one bet and why it was the best thing that ever happened to him

    He said his 'whole world came crashing down' when he lost

    News
  • YouTube/Jesse Michels
    7 hours ago

    Former CIA spy reveals what he claims are locations of four alien bases on Earth

    Leonard 'Lyn' Buchanan worked for US Army intelligence for several years

    News
  • Deadly pool at bottom of ocean kills anything that swims into it
  • What happens when underwater volcanoes erupt as scientists warn of upcoming blast
  • Woman shares terrifying footage of the Great Blue Hole revealing the dangerous reality of diving into it
  • Truth behind ‘one of the world’s deadliest’ lakes that turns animals to ‘stone’