• Question: Do you ever have to go near a hydrovolcanic vent to observe the life around it?

    Asked by chickennoodle to Clare, Dave, Glo, Ozge, Sean on 16 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Dave Sproson

      Dave Sproson answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      I’ll leave this one for Clare 🙂

    • Photo: Sean Clement

      Sean Clement answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      Unfortunately not Chickenoodle! I wish I could though. The types of submarines that go to those depths have to be built to withstand enormous pressures and so are very expensive to run. Often many submarines that do down that far are robotic, beaming signal back to a boat some 4000m above them.

      They are fascinating places though. No-one though that life could exist at those depths because there was no sunlight. Then, in the 1970’s, down they went and what did they find? Life, lots and lots of life! They found entire ecosystems surviving around the concept of ‘chemosynthesis’ which is the process of primary production (like plants are responsible for on land) using sulphuric compounds instead of sunlight. It’s absolutely amazing and, when discovered, changed the whole way of thinking about life in the deep ocean.

    • Photo: Gloeta Massie

      Gloeta Massie answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      I could be so lucky!

    • Photo: Ozge Ozkaya

      Ozge Ozkaya answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      No

    • Photo: Clare Woulds

      Clare Woulds answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      I haven’t been near one in person, we tend to use unmanned submersibles for that. I was recently on a cruise in the Southern Ocean where we found a new one using underwater video cameras. That was a very exciting day! It is possible to go near them in manned submarines, but you have to be very careful! There is a story that the American submarine (Alvin) once lost power when it was quite close to one. If the hot water from the vent (450 degrees) had touched the window then the window would have melted, and that would have been game over. Luckily they got power back in time, before the sub drifted into danger. Having said all that, if someone asked me ‘do you want to come on my cruise and dive near a hydrothermal vent?’ I would answer ‘yes’ without a second thought! It must be an amazing feeling!

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