Discover the “Jacuzzi of Despair” Off the US Coast that’s Fatal to Sea Life

The “Jacuzzi of Despair” is an underwater lake at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. It takes about a day to find this underwater death trap off of the coast of New Orleans, LA. Let’s discover more about the Jacuzzi of Despair off of the US coast that’s fatal to sea life.

What is an Underwater Lake?

An underwater lake, or brine pool, is collected dense water at the bottom of the ocean that takes millions of years to form. Shallow ocean water in the Gulf of Mexico dried up into salt layers during the Jurassic era. It is sometimes 5 miles thick.

These salt layers are now covered in sediments washed over the salt when the gulf was refilled. Back then, the land that’s now the Gulf of Mexico wasn’t connected to any other body of water. This is why it was able to evaporate into salt.

The sediment sometimes causes the salt layers underneath to crack which allows water to mix with salt. Gasses and oil may also escape and get trapped in the dense water created by the salt. Underwater rivers and waterfalls are sometimes formed in the same way.

Others exist in the deep sea and Antarctic locations. Sometimes these lakes form because of the movement of tectonic plates and near hot spots.

Underwater lakes also form directly beneath oceanic ice at the poles. These ice lakes form as sea water freezes. Freezing salt water loses its salt which sinks in a process called brine rejection. The salt then forms finger-like streams as it sinks and creates an underwater lake at the bottom.

What is the Jacuzzi of Despair?

Also known as the Hot Tub of Despair, the Jacuzzi of Despair is a lake at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico that causes animal fatalities. Another less common name for this specific underwater lake is the Hot Tub Brine Machine.

At 3,300 feet below sea level, it’s almost 67 degrees Fahrenheit. It should be around 40 degrees. This is deadly to animals that aren’t equipped to handle such hot conditions.

It’s about 12 feet deep in most spots and it’s filled with bubbles of methane that have also seeped out into the ocean. The fluid in the lake is also thicker than normal sea water. The Jacuzzi of Despair is approximately 100 feet in circumference and the cracks that emanate salt and gasses may be more than a mile deep.

The discovery of underwater lakes is less than 40 years ago. The discovery of the Jacuzzi of Despair is in 2016. Underwater lakes often have mineral crusts rimming their banks which makes them look a lot like a crater.

Why is the Jacuzzi of Despair Fatal to Sea Life?

The Jacuzzi of Despair is fatal to sea life because it is too hot, too salty, and inundated with poisonous gasses. It contains bubbles of methane and hydrogen sulfide that also seep to the earth’s surface and mix with the extremely salty water. It also almost completely lacks oxygen.

Animals do fall in and are usually preserved after they die of asphyxiation. This process is similar to pickling. Water is drawn from the victim’s cells which suspends decomposition.

What Sea Life Dies in the Jacuzzi of Despair?

Crabs and amphipods often die in the Jacuzzi of Despair. Misguided fish and octopuses occasionally die. Various small crustaceans are the most common victims as they follow the bottom of the ocean in their travels.

As they breathe the thickened water of the underwater lake, their blood doesn’t achieve the oxygen saturation level needed to sustain brain activity. This quickly causes cerebral hypoxia.

Critters don’t die immediately when they enter most underwater lakes. However, since they’re unable to breathe, they must make it back out of the lake quickly.

What Sea Life Lives in the Jacuzzi of Despair?

Bacteria and tubeworms live in the Jacuzzi of Despair. They are specifically equipped to survive in a toxic and sunless environment. Only true die-hard extremophiles eke out an existence.

The resident mussels live on the walls of the lake. They use bacteria in their gills which allows them to turn methane and hydrogen sulfide into energy. The tubeworms also rely on a symbiotic relationship with bacteria to survive.

These bacteria are chemosynthetic bacteria. They’re able to turn inorganic compounds into their food. This means they’re providing consumable organic compounds within their ecosystems. Examples of nutrients they create are nitrogen, sulfur, iron, and phosphorous.

What Other Underwater Lakes Are There on Earth?

The Jacuzzi of Despair is not the only underwater lake on earth. Similar lakes are scattered around in certain deep bodies of water including the Mediterranean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Red Sea. Twenty-five brine lakes exist in the Red Sea alone.

These are some of the underwater lakes on earth:

• Orca Basin Brine Pool in the Gulf of Mexico
• Valdiva Deep Brine Pool in the Red Sea
• Atlantis II Deep in the Red Sea
• NR-1 Brine Pool in the Gulf of Mexico
• Kebrit Brine Pool in the Red Sea
• Afifi Brine Pool in the Red Sea
• Hot Lake in the Mediterranean Sea

Tsunamis and Underwater Lakes

Where regular ocean water meets the surface of pooled brine water, there is a distinct surface that mimics the appearance of unmixed oil and water. Rovers that explore underwater lakes create waves when they travel near the surface.

Tsunamis happen on large underwater lakes which has devastating consequences for surrounding ecosystems. Brine lakes situated on top of a deep basin are capable of creating a large wave if a big enough mass displaces brine water. The huge underwater lake found at the Orca Basin is the site of research on this phenomenon.

Something like a landslide is violent enough to make this happen. The resultant spillover hurts and kills any animal it touches. This is especially true if enough sloshes out to fill another depression or basin.

Up Next

• How Deep is the Gulf of Mexico?
• Where Exactly the Mississippi River Meets the Gulf of Mexico
• How Deep is Great Salt Lake?

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Lewis Directed Films/Shutterstock.com