Krøyer's deep-sea anglerfish

All my days are nights, a night that will last a lifetime. The artificial division of time into days means nothing to those of us who prefer the cold, dark and joyous depths of the ocean to the exposed superficialities of ordinary beings.

- As told to Simon Barnes

Monday

Surface dwellers don’t really appreciate light, having far too much of it. When you live more than a mile beneath the surface of the sea, you see things very differently. This is the aphotic zone where less than 1% of the sun's light penetrates. Down here every glimmer is a miracle. It's also my little secret.

Tuesday

Very few creatures can live in the depths. Surface dwellers would consider it lonely. Not us. Darkness and solitude are the breath of life to us. Nothing grows here, of course — for that you need much more light. So it all begins with tiny items of living and dying matter drifting downwards: what the sky lets fall in the way of food.

Wednesday