DailyDirt: Joe Life Versus The Volcano

Volcanoes are not exactly predictable, so the best way to avoid getting killed by one is probably to just live far, far away. But Nature doesn't worry about death and destruction, so all kinds of life seems to thrive around active volcanoes, even where no one would expect life to be able to survive at all.

• Sharks have been discovered at the bottom of Kavachi, an active underwater volcano in the Pacific ocean. It's not clear how large animals deal with the possibility of dying instantly in an eruption -- or if they just don't realize they're hanging out in a caldera at all. [url]
• A tiny scaleless blackfish appears to enjoy growing up in the warm, acidic waters near underwater volcanoes. A research vessel found this new species off the coast of Australia, and it looks like the warm waters from volcanoes foster all kinds of tiny creatures nobody was expecting to find. [url]
• Until 1977, scientists thought that all life on Earth depended on the photosynthetic food chain. Underwater volcanic vents near the Galapagos Islands presented us with a different ecosystem that feeds on chemicals released from geological activity. [url]

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