Submarine catches super 'aphrodisiac' in the deepest place in the world

The submersible Giao Long caught a rare red sea cucumber while surveying the world's deepest Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean.

Jiaolong is China's first manned deep-sea submersible. Photo: QQ

China's deep-sea submersible JiaolongMay 23completed its 143rd ocean exploration mission lasting more than 3 hours in the Mariana Trench, the deepest abyss on Earth in the northwest Pacific Ocean, according to Xinhua.

During this survey, Chinese scientists collected many marine specimens such as basalt, sponges, starfish and a red sea cucumber, a mollusk considered a "miracle drug" in traditional Chinese medicine.

Sea cucumber has a high content ofamino acidup to 86.5%, of which arginine accounts for 11.9%. Arginine is the main ingredient for collagen synthesis, which promotes cell regeneration, restores muscle damage, eliminates fatigue, and restores physical strength. They have been considered "aphrodisiac specialties" in China for thousands of years.

The 35cm-long red sea cucumber was caught at a depth of nearly 4,800 metres below sea level. Photo: Renmin

It took scientists more than 30 minutes to lure the 35cm long sea cucumber into a cage at a depth of nearly 4,800 meters below the seabed.

Sea cucumbers are some of the strangest creatures in the animal kingdom. They can hibernate in the summer, rupture and regenerate their intestines, and even release a chemical that dissolves their bodies and disappears without a trace.

According to Yang Hongsheng, deputy director of the Institute of Oceanography at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, sea cucumbers are an important key to solving many mysteries of the marine world.

According to VNE