open ocean

The research, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, uncovers how these enigmatic creatures defied the odds to diversify in the harsh, resource-poor environment of the bathypelagic zone -- part of the open ocean that extends from 3,300 to 13,000 feet below the ocean's surface.

They were then put on a boat and taken via a river out to the open ocean.

Scientists studied microscopic organisms in four environments -- open ocean, river mouths, coasts and under sea ice -- in the Beaufort Sea off northern Canada.

The open ocean is home to whales, turtles and jellyfish.

“Our ability to observe intensities and intensification rates of hurricanes over the open ocean or Gulf of Mexico has improved markedly since, say, 1900,” Knutson said.