Aliens of the Deep

Aliens of the Deep is the result of several dramatic and visually stunning deep-sea expeditions to hydrothermal vent sites in the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. These vent sites are violent volcanic regions where the interaction between ocean and molten rock create plumes of super-heated, chemically-charged water serve as unimaginable oases for animals unlike anything ever discovered. Six-foot tall stomachless worms with blood-red plumes, blind white crabs, and an inconceivable biomass of shrimp capable of "seeing" heat all compete to find just the right location in the flow of the superheated, life-giving water that surrounds these vents. Unlike all other life on Earth, these creatures are not dependent on sunlight and their ecosystems are as close to alien as anything ever imagined. They provide one possible blueprint for the life that might exist beyond our world. Filmmaker James Cameron is joined on his search for the strange and alien creatures that live in the hydrothermal vent sites by a team of young NASA scientists and marine biologists. They share his interests as they consider how these life forms represent life we may one day find in outer space, not only on faraway planets orbiting distant stars, but also within our own solar system.