Weird stuff lives in the deep, dark waters of our world’s oceans, and human nature dictates that we do our best to find it — and then make fun of it.
A group of scientists working with Museums Victoria recently conducted an expedition near eastern Australia into a deep sea area nicknamed “the abyss” — a habitat 4000 meters below the surface that’s virtually unexplored.
Over the month-long voyage, called “Sampling the Abyss,” the team of 40 scientists discovered some pretty bizarre organisms. They included tiny deep sea sharks with razor-like teeth, translucent flesh-eating crustaceans, and a faceless fish, which has rarely been seen by humans since the 1800s.
But one creature from the deep really grabbed the public’s attention. It’s something called a peanut worm, and it actually looks a lot like something else that starts with the letter “p.” So when International Business Times tweeted a non-insinuating photo of the peanut worm, the internet quickly did the work for them.
Somewhat ironically, the worms are able to procreate sexually and asexually. To see more of the creatures discovered by the Museums Victoria team, check out their awesome blog, “Blogging the abyss.”
