Speculative Fact #317: Deep Sea Critters

The world was amazed to discover a host of exotic life getting along brilliantly along the deep sea thermal vents. These fissures produced by plate tectonics erupt with molten rock, bubbling hot water, and black clouds of volcanic gasses. Unlike life on the Earth these extremophiles are not dependent on sunlight and have their own complex chain of life supported by chemosynthesis. Not only do these extremophiles thrive in the deep, but in dense population pockets many times exceeding that of the ocean bottom proper. We are now discovering that despite their crowded living space, the diversity is life is rich, suggesting that they use stepping ponds and migrate periodically.
            The ocean floors interest us in many ways. It could mean that we need to expand our search parameters as we search for life outside of Earth. The creatures living near these thermal vents bend our perceptions of what form life might take. There are some worlds in our solar system like Europa and Enceladus that have subsurface oceans and geothermal energy. There may be planets out in the galaxy with critters more alien than anything you can imagine, so let’s get thinking!

-Jonathan Hernandez

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