In the mid-20th century, the first scuba technology allowed deep-sea divers in the Mediterranean to reach previously impossible depths.
And after descending into the mesophotic zone, an ocean region spanning thirty to one hundred and fifty meters, these aquanauts made a remarkable discovery.
Up to 90 meters below the surface, where sometimes only 0.1% of surface sunlight can reach, they found a forest of huge kelps over twice the size of a giraffe.
Today, kelps are known to be the largest marine plants, and there had already been talk of such giants being pulled up from enormous depths in the late 19th century.
But following the Mediterranean discovery, fishermen, naval officers, and scientists began dredging up more massive mesophotic kelps in the Philippine Sea and off the coasts of Brazil, Australia, and North America.
There were even claims of plants this large being brought up from as deep as one hundred and fifty meters.
That's deeper than the Great Pyramid of Giza is tall.
These forests should be impossible.
Like any other plant, kelps require light to grow.
Yet these specimens grow as large as, and often even larger than, their shallow counterparts, all with less light than they should require just to stay alive.
