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Brine pools. Resting on the ocean floor are toxic lakes of brine. Formed where super-salty, high density waters seep out of the seafloor and pool on the bottom, they create what appear to be dead-zones of life, devoid of oxygen. Any animal to enter suffers a toxic shock from the hyper-salinity, with their bodies preserved in the brine for centuries without decay. And yet, around their perimeter, these death traps create biological hotspots on the sea-floor. Vast colonies of tube-worms and mussels stretch beyond the dim horizon, able to survive due to the presence of bacteria converting chemicals in the brine into food. Predators like visiting hagfish and ravenous king crabs gorge themselves on the mussels, and an entire ecosystem blossoms on the barren sea floor. Existing in the narrow inhabitable boundary between an energy-giving deathtrap, and the barren sea floor beyond, these organisms truly are wonders of the deep.
