VOLCANOES OF THE DEEP SEA

The connection with Rona's find was a revelation: the tiny ocean builders of this hexagonal pattern had survived mass extinctions and the march of evolution essentially unchanged in their behavior for tens of millions of years. On a dive at TAG, during the production of the film, the team was able to get another look at the mysterious pattern he discovered. The drama is captured in the film. Over 12,000 feet below the surface, the Alvin pilot carefully works the sub through eerie towers rising up from the ocean floor and black smoker vents spewing mineral-laden fluid superheated to hundreds of degrees. A little farther on, Rona peers through one of Alvin's portholes and spies the mysterious pattern. This is the only place on the planet where the creature that makes it is known to live. Describing the view later, Rona says, "There was sedimentation like snowfall, yet the imprint of this ‘animal' remains clean and sharp. It's as if it were stamped into the ocean floor with a cookie..

Primary location: Dorval Canada