Transcript: In the 1970s, scientists who used the first deep sea submersibles to go thousands of feet below the ocean’s surface got a huge surprise. They found entire ecosystems near deep sea ocean vents where hot superheated water existed due to volcanic activity on the ocean floor. This is a region of utter darkness. Light can of course only penetrate the first few feet under the ocean. It’s also a situation of extreme pressure, perhaps a hundred atmospheres, and yet in this extreme pressure and at a temperature of superheated water, six or seven hundred degrees Fahrenheit, organisms were found. The organisms gained their energy by metabolizing hydrogen sulfide, a toxic chemical to us, from the deep sea vents. In addition to the microbes were larger organisms. In a sphere extending out from the microbes at the hottest temperature were other larger organisms feeding on the microbes. Beyond that, transparent krill eating the smaller organisms, and beyond that, substantial sized fish who did not have eyes, there was no light for them to see, but moved by sonar or infrared vision. This was a huge surprise, the existence of entire ecosystems hidden from us on the ocean floor. In addition, these are ecosystems that live independent of sunlight. Their energy comes from the core of the Earth.