Top 10 deep-sea animals

The deep sea—Earth's largest habitat—is home to a host of magical and mysterious animals. As we help our education and conservation partners at the Monterey Bay Aquarium prepare for the exhibit Into the Deep: Exploring Our Undiscovered Ocean, launching in 2022, they were curious to know which denizens of the deep are our favorites? With that question in mind, we gathered five of MBARI’s finest deep-sea biologists—Shannon Johnson, Kakani Katija, George Matsumoto, Bruce Robison, and Susan von Thun—and came up with a list of ten favorites. You might be surprised to see what made our list and what makes these creatures so lovable.