methane-fueled sea spider, not all is dystopian. A new expedition to the profound hadal zone revealed an intriguing realm that reshapes our perception of how life at the ocean’s depths endures in the absence of sunlight — chemical seepages from the seabed.
The research was released in the journal Nature on July 30, 2025, bearing the title “Thriving chemosynthetic life in the deepest hadal trenches.” This venture united researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. They embarked on the expedition personally, not via remote means or underwater drones, to lead this groundbreaking discovery.
At the ocean’s most profound point, over six miles beneath the surface, the hadal trench showcases some of the planet’s most extreme and least examined environments. Its name derives from Hades, the Greek deity of the underworld. Utilizing a manned deep-sea submersible, the researchers made a significant discovery. They unveiled the deepest and largest chemosynthesis-oriented communities ever recorded.
