The Yeti Crab: Life Within the Indian Ocean’s Deep Sea Vents

Every day, new species of fish, flora and fauna are discovered that open a tiny window into the grand secrets of our vast and dynamic universe.

In the late 1970s, marine biologists discovered the phenomenon known as deep sea hydrothermal vents, hidden in the Indian Ocean, far off the southeastern African coast.

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These vents form near mid-ocean ridges as the result of volcanic activity occurring below the sea floor. Emitting hot lava, which causes the Earth’s crust to split apart, this liquid creates a harsh environment inimical to marine life. The vents also carry minerals rich in sulfur and other metals.

In an amazing exercise of the human principle of “life giving you lemons and making lemonade,” specialized bacteria live off these metal-rich fluids, and a variety of deep-sea animals have found ways to incorporate the bacteria within their own bodies, gaining nutrition and sustenance.

One such creature is the yeti crab.

First discovered a few years back, the animal is named after the elusive monster said to eternally haunt the Himalayan mountains of Tibet.

Its legs are covered with long pale-yellow hairs, making it an unusual sight to behold, to say the very least.

Within the Indian Ocean, the Dragon Vent in particular was the focus of a recent expedition led by South African marine biologist Dr. Jon Copley. During the voyage aboard the James Cook, the research team sent a robot named Kiel 6000 on an exploratory mission down to the vents. Equipped with both cameras and a means for collecting samples of marine life, its solitary purpose was to flush out the unique and exotic creatures that have managed to flourish within this hostile environment.

Other such ventures to other vents in the Indian Ocean, as well as in other oceans, have indicated that an entire realm of creatures do live there, including sea cucumbers, which are long and skinny and are related to sea stars and unique types of snails, shrimp and mussels, as well as the elusive yeti crab.

Much mystery, however, still surrounds how these creatures manage to navigate the vast distances between these vents, which similar to volcanoes on land tend to go dormant for long periods between eruptions.

The fact that these sea vents often contain precious metals could upset the unique balance of nature that exists within. The fear is that humans may destroy the delicate ecosystem by extracting these metals, a fear that may soon become a reality in the Dragon Vent. It seems that the United Nations has just granted mineral exploration and extraction rights to China.

Time will dictate the fate of the marine life that thrives deep within the hydrothermal vents of the Indian Ocean and the anomaly known as the yeti crab.

(Link)

By MDeeDubroff on 13-01-2012