Featured Image Credit: Ocean Exploration Trust/NOAA / YouTube/EVNautilus
Topics: Mexico, Science, Environment, Nature, Travel
Niamh Shackleton
Topics: Mexico, Science, Environment, Nature, Travel
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).
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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.
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!"