'Hot Tub of Despair': How a Deadly Underwater Lake Nearly Kills Anything That Enters It
Almost a decade ago, explorers found the "Hot Tub of Despair" at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. This cold seep, containing extremely salty water leads to the death of most animals that enter it. The water is toxic for most of the animals living in that habitat, Live Science reported.
In 2015, some researchers in a San Pedro-based research vessel, the E/V Nautilus found the "Hot Tub of Despair" off the coast of Louisiana, Los Angeles Times reported.
The expedition's objective was to investigate the cold seeps in the depths of the Gulf, Live Science reported. The researchers saw the brine pool, of this cold seep, peppered with the carcasses of animals that dared to enter its waters.
"These larger organisms really don’t like to be in this fluid — or maybe they just come here to die," Scott Wankel, a marine chemist, said in a video of the discovery.
The expedition team was awestruck to see the structure, Indy100 reported. "We’ve known about [brine pools] for 30 years, [but] this one was pretty spectacular when it was found," Erik Cordes, who co-authored a study on the discovery said. "It’s one of the coolest ones I’ve seen," he added.
Cold seeps are places where hydrocarbons get released from the seafloor and come into the water column, Live Science reported. In the Gulf of Mexico, hydrocarbons were being forced out of the seafloor by shifting slabs of salt in Earth's crust which came into being after an ancient sea evaporated millions of years ago.
The salty water present in the "Hot Tub of Despair," is due to the hydrocarbons bubbling out of the buried slabs of salt, as per the article published in 2016 in Oceanography. The water is four times more salty, and far denser than the seawater around the structure.
The temperature inside the pool often climbs up to 66 degrees Fahrenheit (19 degrees Celsius), which, combined with high salinity, makes it difficult for any creature to persist in the place for a long time, Live Science reported. The hot tub's salty water also contains high levels of hydrogen sulfide and methane, which most creatures have trouble withstanding.
Molluscs are one of the few organisms that can survive in this structure, Los Angeles Times reported. They have certain bacteria on their gills which can utilize methane and hydrogen sulfide to make energy.
The structure is surrounded by steep walls maintained by mussels living on the edge of the pool, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The walls have red, yellow, and white mineral flows, as well as mussel beds, according to the article in Oceanography.
"You don’t expect to see [these bright colors] in the muddy background of the deep sea," Cordes said pointing out the colors on the wall, Indy 100 reported. "It’s very weird. I think that’s what’s captured people’s imaginations. It’s such a bizarre kind of habitat."
"The rim rises pretty sharply," a researcher said in a video of the discovery, Live Science reported. "The mussels, they've done a really standup job at keeping the walls intact."
The expedition team gave the name "Hot Tub of Despair" to this cold seep after they saw pickled crabs and various other creatures lying dead inside the structure, Live Science reported.
The seep is almost 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) beneath the waves and measures 100 feet (30.5 m) in circumference and 12 feet (3.7 m) deep, Nautilus Live reported.
The expedition did not reach the bottom of the structure, the Los Angeles Times reported. "Since the source of the brine and hydrocarbons is basically a crack in the Earth, it is tough to find the bottom," Cordes said. "It could be a few kilometers down under the seafloor."