600m

Sunlight zone ends

The upper layer of the ocean. Even though it only makes up 2-3% of the ocean, it is home to a massive number of organisms, including turtles, stingrays, and whale sharks. The sunlight only penetrates approximately 200 meters deep which is why it is called the sunlight zone (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution).

1000m

Twilight zone ends

The twilight zone is cold with little light and reaches 200m-1000m deep. The marine animals here span from microorganisms to some of the largest living animals (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution).

4000m

Midnight zone ends

There is immense pressure and zero sunlight in the midnight zone. The midnight zone extends to 4000m deep which is the ocean floor in many places. The temperature in the midnight zone is a steady 4 degrees Celsius/39 Fahrenheit (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution).

6500m

Abyssal zone ends

Even though the ocean floor is around 4000m deep. Many ocean trenches can reach 7000m. Since the water here is extremely dark, the marine animals here use bioluminescence to communicate (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution).

11000m

Hadal zone ends

The hadal is a harsh environment with extreme pressure and temperature just above freezing. This zone only occurs in trenches, and combined with all the hadal zones in the world, they make up the size of Australia (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution).