Thousands of marine life species have been recorded living in the depths of the ocean about 656 feet below. On top of the 230,000 known species, researchers found another 5,600 new species.

The report has been released on Sunday which recorded thousands of species living deep in the ocean where the sun’s rays cannot reach. These findings were the latest updates on a 10-year census of marine life.

Robert S. Carney, an oceanographer at Louisiana State University and a lead researcher on the deep seas said, “Parts of the deep sea that we assumed were homogenous are actually quite complex.”

These thousands of marine life live on the snow-like decaying matter that cascades down — even sunken whale bones, as well as methane and oil.

Jesse Ausubel of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, a sponsor of the census said, “The deep sea was considered a desert until not so long ago; it’s quite amazing to have documented close to 20,000 forms of life in a zone that was thought to be barren. The deep sea is the least explored environment on earth.”

(via AP)