Volcanoes of the Deep Sea

00:00:53 I came here for the first time 50 years ago

00:02:37 Paleodictyon Nodosum.

00:04:02 she is being outfitted with high resolution cameras ...

00:07:07 The sub's temperature probes indicated water hot enough to melt lead ...

00:08:31 Human exploration of the deep sea is a slow, complex and dangerous process.

00:10:30 no fossil that a palaeontologist could study millions of years later.

00:12:48 It felt like a journey to the centre of the earth.

00:15:24 In the eastern Pacific, off the coast of Mexico

00:17:32 and there were large anemones growing nearby.

00:19:03 It had seen a billion years of darkness

00:20:31 the tubeworms at first seemed more like plants than animals.

00:21:48 a 100 times greater than our own sun

00:23:21 We once believed the Sun's radiation to be the only source of energy for all life on earth.

00:24:59 The bacteria living here

00:26:03 the tunnels became more and more elaborate ...

00:27:54 but almost before our eyes.

00:29:21 has burned off most of its extremities whilst grazing among the hot rocks.

00:32:41 When scientist began to look beyond the obvious feeding patterns of the animals

00:34:12 There is a good chance that this is where life began on earth.

00:36:25 would require an entirely different strategy than a tubeworm

00:37:54 I knew this was my paleodictyon nodosum.

00:40:05 And the tunnels were there.

00:41:16 And I probably never will.