Scientists have long studied organisms that thrive around hydrothermal vents. But those native to areas known as cold seeps — where gases like methane and hydrogen sulfite leach from the seafloor at near-freezing temperatures — have been little studied.

"There's often an edge to the human eye on the seafloor." Scientists shocked as deep-sea expedition captures 'enigmatic' discovery at bottom of Pacific Ocean: 'Might otherwise be missed entirely' first appeared on The Cool Down.

That’s what an international team of scientists did last summer. Led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the researchers took a manned submersible to the bottom of deep-sea trenches in an area in the northwest Pacific Ocean,