About This Stamp
The deep sea is the most expansive animal habitat on Earth, an environment characterized by darkness, cold, and high pressure. In response to these conditions, deep-sea creatures possess significant modifications that differ greatly from creatures inhabiting more benign regions of the sea. These modifications include unusual body forms, specialized mating habits, and bioluminescence—the ability to generate light. These stamps provide a glimpse into that rarely seen undersea world.
The creatures on these stamps dwell primarily in the midwater range of the Earth’s oceans. The midwater range includes the mesopelagic zone and the bathypelagic zone. The mesopelagic zone begins at a depth of approximately 100 meters (330 feet) below the surface and extends down to about 1,000 meters (3,300 feet), where sunlight no longer penetrates. The bathypelagic zone, approximately 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) and below, is eternally dark, except for the light produced by its bioluminescent inhabitants.
Creatures that are bioluminescent — such as the sea cucumber and medusa featured on these stamps — are common sights in the midwater range. Bioluminescence serves several purposes: to illuminate or attract prey; to recognize and attract mates; to startle or distract predators; or to camouflage an organism by allowing it to blend in with the light filtered through the water above.
All five animals on the Deep Sea Creatures stamp pane were photographed alive in tanks. Dr. Laurence Madin of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution photographed the sea cucumber, the amphipod, and the medusa. Dr. Bruce Robison of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute photographed the fanfin anglerfish and the fangtooth.
Art Director
Ethel Kessler
Ethel Kessler is an award-winning designer and art director who has worked with corporations, museums, public and private institutions, professional service organizations, and now, the United States Postal Service.
After earning a B.F.A. in visual communications from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Kessler worked as a graphic designer and project manager for the exhibits division of the United States Information Agency. Her work was distributed internationally on subjects such as Immigration, Entrepreneurship, Renovation of American Cities, and the Bicentennial of 1976. She was also responsible for exhibits in Morocco, Botswana, and El Salvador.
In 1981, she established Kessler Design, Inc., for which she is creative director and designer. Clients have included the Clinton Government reorganization, the Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic Television, the National Park Service, and the American Institute of Architects.
She has been an art director for the U.S. Postal Service’s stamp development program for more than 25 years. As an art director for USPS, Kessler has been responsible for creating more than 500 stamp designs, including the Breast Cancer Research stamp illustrated by Whitney Sherman. Issued in 1998, the stamp is still on sale and has raised more $98 million for breast cancer research. Other Kessler projects include the popular and highly regarded Nature of America 120 stamp series, a collaboration with nationally acclaimed nature illustrator John Dawson, the 12-year Lunar New Year series with Kam Mak, the American Filmmaking: Behind the Scenes 10 stamps issued in 2003, a 2016 pane of stamps celebrating the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, and the 2023 stamp honoring Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And many, many others.