Dead Sea Teems with Tiny Life

It turns out the Dead Sea isn’t so dead after all. Microscopic life is thriving in the super salty environment, according to new findings by a German and Israeli team of scientists. They found new species of life in freshwater fissures in the seafloor.

Fresh, bubbling water containing the ingredients to support life in harsh environments has revealed new types of microorganisms never before seen. Scientists aren’t sure if the organisms have adapted to the salty environment or to the freshwater. Their research in that area is just beginning.

Danny Lonescu from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Germany led a team of ten researchers who camped along the shores of the Dead Sea and did daily dives to locate the source of freshwater discharge.

They noticed ripples near shore indicating that something was bubbling up. When they dove to investigate they found a set of springs. After analyzing the water in a makeshift lab, they found micro bits of life, which was thought to be impossible in the Dead Sea. Even during the dives, the high salt content in the water burned the divers and forced them to take extra precautions. Prevailing scientific wisdom says that no life can thrive in this harsh, salty environment.

Since the 1930s scientists knew about freshwater springs and algae in the Dead Sea but the conditions made it almost impossible for scientific divers. So few have been able to see what lurks below the surface until now.

Christian Lott, a biologist and underwater photographer on the team says, “The interesting thing is normally the Dead Sea is thought to be dead… but here we have a huge variety of life forms that can exist in [these] adverse conditions.”

He marvels at hardiness of the extremophiles that inhabit the Dead Sea.

Dr. Lott says, “After a week of diving we get burns, we get bruises, our skin is getting bad and these bugs just live right there – they love it, it’s heaven for them.”

Just as the scientists have made this discovery, they are worried that evaporation of the land-locked sea will spoil their find. Every year the Dead Sea recedes by about 3.3 feet.

Dive with Christian Lott into the Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth.