An explosion of life under a hellish sea

An eelpout swimming near a tower of tubeworms at a depth of 762m at the Tica Vent, on the East Pacific Rise, off the coast of South America. — ©2023 The New York Times Company

OFF the western shores of Central and South America, there is a Lovecraftian, lava-licked realm thousands of metres beneath the ocean.

There, on the sea floor, volcanically powered exhaust ports known as hydrothermal vents fire off jets of water that reach temperatures of up to 400°C. While the surfaces and peripheries of these vents have long been known to host a diverse mosaic of life, scientists had never known animals to find a home beneath these hellish geysers.