Watch deep-sea shrimp scatter during earthquake

The ocean depths are dark and mysterious. They are also home to life. Lots of it, in fact. And these creatures are able to sense things just as animals on land can. This video of deep-sea shrimp proves it!

The video was taken by an exploration robot named Jason used by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The robot is designed to record what goes on in the parts of the ocean that never see the Sun. Places like the Cayman Rise in the Caribbean, a deep-sea mountain ridge just south of Cuba.

Hydrothermal action

Most of the deep ocean is not just dark, it is also extremely cold. An exception to this are areas with hydrothermal vents — openings in the crust that leak out heat from deep within the Earth.

You could almost think of these as heating vents in your home, or the jets in a swimming pool that pump in warm water. Marine animals group around them to stay warm.

Jason the robot was filming a crowd of deep-sea shrimp quietly doing just that on the Cayman Rise. Then, about 160 kilometres (100 miles) away, an underwater earthquake struck. Did the shrimp sense it? You bet! What happened next?

Check that out below!