Marine wildlife includes many different species of fish, whales, sea turtles and other ocean animals. These creatures have evolved to be adapted to living in the deep sea and have developed strategies for survival that are still used by some marine organisms today.

For example, some deep-sea creatures have special molecules in their body that allow them to survive under high pressure and stay alive for long periods of time. These molecules, called piezolytes, stop the cellular membranes and proteins from being crushed under extreme pressure.

They also prevent the cellular structures from tearing down too quickly, which allows for the growth of new tissue. This process is similar to the way our bodies repair damaged cells and tissues.

Another important adaptation is the ability to eat other types of marine organisms. These include plankton, microscopic plants, microorganisms and small crustaceans. These organisms help marine animals thrive and grow, especially when they have a large population of young.

Some animals have a hard outer shell, which helps them keep warm in the cold water of the ocean. This protection is especially necessary for some of the larger sea creatures, such as sharks and rays.

In addition to a hard outer shell, these animals have specially designed organs that help regulate their temperature. Some marine mammals, for example, have a thick blubber layer that helps their bodies maintain their internal temperature, even when they are underwater.

They also have specialized gills and lungs that can absorb oxygen and other gases from the ocean and air to produce energy. Animals such as anemones and worms can do this through their skin, while mobile creatures like mussels use gills to get the oxygen they need for their bodies and to move around.

Their gills can also pump out excess salt from the ocean and into their bodies, helping them remain in balance with seawater. This process is called osmosis.

One way sharks are able to adapt to living in the deep ocean is by having an extra urea-like substance that makes their bodies more efficient at keeping in a good balance with the water they absorb from the ocean. This chemical makes the water in their bodies essentially as salty as the salt in the water outside of their bodies, which means they don’t have to constantly drink water to stay hydrated.

These chemicals also make it possible for sharks to dive up to 3 000 metres below the surface. This is impossible for many other animals, as the pressure of water above them would crush their lungs.

These specialized lungs and other mechanisms also help sharks cope with changes in pressure, like when they are forced to swim underwater for long periods of time. They can even eject air from their lungs to reduce the amount of nitrogen gas entering their blood.