Hydrothermal Vent Creatures Travel to a world of perpetual night
--the deep ocean hydrothermal vents near the Galapagos Rift
where life thrives around superheated water spewing from deep
inside the Earth. Discovered only in 1977, hydrothermal vents
are home to dozens of previously unknown species. Huge red-
tipped tube worms, ghostly fish, strange shrimp with eyes on
their backs and other unique species thrive in these extreme
deep ocean ecosystems found near undersea volcanic chains. How
is life possible here? In a process called chemosynthesis,
microbes at the base of the foodchain convert chemicals from the
vents into usable energy. See closeup footage of hydrothermal
vents and species in this clip from the IMAX film "Volcanoes of
the Deep."