Hydrothermal vents host rare species at incredibly high density comparable to tropical rainforests or coral reefs. Forty years ago, the first descriptions of the ecosystems around these deep underwater heat funnels changed our understanding of deep ocean environments and the very origins of life. Now, species in even the most inaccessible parts of Earth are threatened by disturbance from human activity, including mining the depths of the ocean.
Click here for original story, Sea Pangolin: The first ever species endangered by potential deep sea mining
Source: Phys.org