On the Validity of theTriesteFlatfish: Dispelling the Myth

Abstract

In 1960, the first-ever manned dive to the deepest place on earth (11,000 m) took place. The pilots reported that on contact with the seafloor they observed a ”flatfish.” This story captured the public imagination yet bears no scientific credibility. In the myriad of publicity surrounding James Cameron’s latest dive, some 52 years later, the story of the flatfish is once again being perpetuated in the popular media, misinforming the public about deep-sea biology. This study attempts to dispel the story of the flatfish by exploring more recent developments in deep-sea exploration and biological research: (1) the mismatch of depths compared with fish of similar body form, (2) an improbable window of opportunity to have made the observations, (3) the absence of fish from other cameras deployed in the trenches, (4) the absence of fish from subsequent exploration of the area, and (5) new hypotheses that predict that fish are, at a cellular level, physiologically incapable of surviving at depths greater than 8500 m. On the basis of all these aspects, it is clear that the Trieste flatfish story is either a misidentification or entirely erroneous. On the 23rd of January 1960, the Bathyscaphe Trieste descended to the deepest place on Earth—Challenger Deep (10,916 m) in the Mariana Trench, Central Pacific Ocean. This exercise represented the first human presence in the deepest part of the oceans. Such an achievement was understandably embroiled in a myriad of publicity at the time, and the story of Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh’s exploit has been told in the contexts of ocean exploration and human endeavor ever since. The legendary status of the Trieste dive is founded not only upon being the first to achieve such feats but also to have remained the only humans to have done so for more than 50 years. The story of the Trieste is once again at the forefront of popular science news and media, partly due to the 50th anniversary of the dive in 2010 and more recently as a result of the X Prize Foundation competition to construct a manned submersible capable of transporting humans to and from the deepest place on Earth. This “race” to Challenger Deep involved several competitors including high-profile personalities such as Virgin Group Chairman Sir Richard Branson, Google founder Eric Schmidt, and the Hollywood film producer James Cameron, who recently won the race. While this renewed and high-profile interest in sending humans to Challenger Deep represents a ground-breaking endeavor in terms of new deep-submergence technology, promotion of the deep-sea environment, and inspiration for future generations of scientists and technologists, it has also resurrected details from the Trieste story that are misleading and most likely erroneous. Recent media coverage has brought the story of the “Trieste flatfish” back into the public arena. The story relates to a flatfish observed through the viewport of the Trieste by Jacques Piccard at nearly 11,000 m deep. Very little was known about the geographic and bathymetric distribution of deep-sea fauna at the time of the dive, and the story of the flatfish sighting was heralded as proof that life exists at full ocean depth and provided the kind of detail that made the dive such a success and so popular. However, 50 years on from the Trieste dive, considerable progress has been made in understanding the bathymetric distribution of fish and exploring the trenches, and despite the ever-increasing wealth of information to suggest that the flatfish sighting is dubious, the story still persists. For example, Philippe Cousteau Jr., an environmental advocate, even related this story live on CNN to an Received 12 April 2012; accepted 6 May 2012. * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: a.jamieson@ abdn.ac.uk Reference: Biol. Bull. 222: 171–175. (June 2012) © 2012 Marine Biological Laboratory