One scientist's mission to save the 'super weird' snails under the sea

A 'punk' mollusc named after Joe Strummer and a snail with a bright orange shell are among the creatures at risk from deep sea mining

It takes an hour from the surface of the Indian Ocean, descending 3,000 metres in a submersible research pod, to reach the bizarre creatures that cluster around hydrothermal vents on the seabed. "You're in a titanium sphere that is about two metres in diameter," says evolutionary biologist Julia Sigwart, describing her voyage to Kairei hydrothermal vent field, east of Madagascar.