Russian Deep-Sea Fisherman Shares Pictures Of Bizarre Creatures He Caught

A local fisherman in Russia has taken the internet by storm after posting several images of alien-looking creatures he has caught during his journeys at sea.

Roman Fedortsov has been posting some his catches on Twitter for the past few months now. While that wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary, what makes his posts eye-catching though is that they show images of deep-sea creatures that would give anyone a quick fright.

According to the Moscow Times, Fedortsov is a native of Murmansk, a city situated in the extreme northwest part of Russia. His hometown's location allows him to fish all throughout the coastal Arctic Ocean region.

If you only look at Fedortsov's photos, you would think that this part of the ocean could be some portal to another world or dimension. The deep-sea creatures he has caught have some of the most bizarre-looking body features that you would only normally see in science fiction flicks.

The Twilight Zone Of The Ocean

Many of the fish that Fedortsov has caught come from the part of the ocean known as the Mesopelagic. The area is also referred to as the "twilight zone" because it is so deep - about 200 to 1,000 meters (about 660 to 3,300 feet) below the ocean's surface - that the light from the sun rarely reaches it, if at all.

The sea creatures in the images are mostly black, aside from the one fish that had red skin on its body. This is because having a darker color helps conceal them at this depth, making them less of a target for predators.

If you go further beyond the Mesopelagic, you'll reach another region known as the bathyal zone. This is located some 1,000 to 4,000 meters (3,300 to 13,000 feet) below the surface.

Creatures living in the bathyal zone make use of their dark colors to absorb whatever wavelength of light reaches the depth without reflecting any of it back.

According to the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, this ability to absorb light for black- and even red-colored creatures allows them to become virtually unseen when swimming in their natural environment.

Scientists have long been fascinated with exploring the depths of the ocean and studying deep-sea creatures like the ones in Fedortsov's photos. The fact that such alien-looking fish exist in our own oceans goes to show just how little we still know about our own world.

Researchers have started to explore the depths of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, which has resulted in the discovery of bizarre creatures akin to those in Fedortsov's posts such as this ghostly snailfish and this new species of jellyfish.