Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
While we know there’s lots of life in the Ocean, it is rather large — covering about 71% of the planet.
You have to know where to look.
Dr. Rachel Lauer studies submarine hydrogeology, specifically how fluids move beneath oceanic crust. She and the #DeepWonders science team used R/V Falkor (too)’s multibeam and water column data to search for plumes rising from the seafloor. They also relied on backscatter data, which measures the intensity of a sonar pulse as it bounces off the ocean bottom, revealing hardness, roughness, and sediment type.
“This process allowed us to see little ‘flares’ rising from the seafloor,” she said. The flares indicated ideal locations in the deep waters of Trinidad & Tobago to send ROV SuBastian for exploration — this is how they discovered this chemosynthetic ecosystem at 1,655 m depth.
The animals here thrive on chemical energy generated by gases escaping from cracks in the seafloor. The deep-sea mussels host symbiotic bacteria that convert gases into usable chemical energy and carbon that, in turn, fuel the mussels’ survival.
“One of the coolest parts of the expedition for Dr. Robert Perrin and me was getting to use our geophysics toolbox to help search for life in an environment where the seafloor is primarily sediment,” she said. The only seamounts — where you would normally look for life — are buried in up to 14 km of sediment in this area. For her, following the data to lush communities and amazing new creatures was electrifying.
“Before we started working closely with biologists, our data collection seemed very utilitarian,” Dr. Lauer explained. “We would collect data to provide constraints for numerical models, where the seafloor is just a mathematical boundary condition, rather than a place where creatures live.”
The little eelpout living here was a favorite of Dr. Lauer, who was enamored by their cute axolotl-like face. “All of my favorite things look like dragons,” she added. (Being a dracophile is a prerequisite for anyone sailing on a ship named after the luckdragon Falkor!)
Credit: ROV SuBastian / Schmidt Ocean Institute
While we know there’s lots of life in the Ocean, it is rather large — covering about 71% of the planet.
You have to know where to look.
Dr. Rachel Lauer studies submarine hydrogeology, specifically how fluids move beneath oceanic crust. She and the #DeepWonders science team used R/V Falkor (too)’s multibeam and water column data to search for plumes rising from the seafloor. They also relied on backscatter data, which measures the intensity of a sonar pulse as it bounces off the ocean bottom, revealing hardness, roughness, and sediment type.
“This process allowed us to see little ‘flares’ rising from the seafloor,” she said. The flares indicated ideal locations in the deep waters of Trinidad & Tobago to send ROV SuBastian for exploration — this is how they discovered this chemosynthetic ecosystem at 1,655 m depth.
The animals here thrive on chemical energy generated by gases escaping from cracks in the seafloor. The deep-sea mussels host symbiotic bacteria that convert gases into usable chemical energy and carbon that, in turn, fuel the mussels’ survival.
“One of the coolest parts of the expedition for Dr. Robert Perrin and me was getting to use our geophysics toolbox to help search for life in an environment where the seafloor is primarily sediment,” she said. The only seamounts — where you would normally look for life — are buried in up to 14 km of sediment in this area. For her, following the data to lush communities and amazing new creatures was electrifying.
“Before we started working closely with biologists, our data collection seemed very utilitarian,” Dr. Lauer explained. “We would collect data to provide constraints for numerical models, where the seafloor is just a mathematical boundary condition, rather than a place where creatures live.”
The little eelpout living here was a favorite of Dr. Lauer, who was enamored by their cute axolotl-like face. “All of my favorite things look like dragons,” she added. (Being a dracophile is a prerequisite for anyone sailing on a ship named after the luckdragon Falkor!)
Credit: ROV SuBastian / Schmidt Ocean Institute
