The Pelagic Zone

The Pelagic Zone © 2011

Everyone always asks, "What does your license plate mean?"

Just what is The Pelagic Zone?

The pelagic zone is the part of the open sea or ocean comprising the water column, i.e. all of the sea other than that near the coast or the sea floor. In contrast, the demersal zone comprises the water that is near to (and thus is significantly affected by) the coast or the sea floor.


The pelagic zone is further divided into a number of sub-zones, based on their different ecological characteristics (which is roughly a function of depth):

  1. Epipelagic (from the surface down to around 200 metres) - Here one will typically encounter fish such as tuna and many sharks.
  2. Mesopelagic (from 200 metres down to around 1000 metres) - the twilight zone.
  3. Bathypelagic (from 1000 metres down to around 4000 metres) - Giant squid live at this depth, and here they are hunted by deep-diving sperm whales.
  4. Abyssopelagic (from 4000 metres down to above the ocean floor) - The name is derived from the greek abyss meaning bottomless.
  5. Hadopelagic (the deep water in ocean trenches) - Hades, the classical greek underworld.


I hope you enjoyed learning about the pelagic realm. Good luck in all your adventures and don't get caught sleeping with the fishes!

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