The crew of the the E/V Nautilus recently visited the Galapagos Rift and had the opportunity to film some of the creatures that live near the hydrothermal vents on the seafloor there. A recently posted video includes rare footage of the bizarre and beautiful flamboyant squid worm, a species that was only discovered in 2007. Check it out below.
The hydrothermal vents are so deep that sunlight does not reach them. The creatures that live there depend upon chemical energy from the earth’s crust for sustenance.
The E/V Nautilus is the exploration vessel of Dr. Robert Ballard, who discovered the wreck of the Titanic in 1985, and the Ocean Exploration Trust. The crew is spending six weeks of their current six-month expedition mapping and exploring the Galapagos Rift, which was the site of the world’s first hydrothermal vent discovery in 1977.
