microbial origins

i have two favourite images in my deskspace at work – one being the picture above of the endeavour hydrothermal vents that were approved as canada’s first marine protected area last year. beside my desk, just to the right is a large poster of these vents that has insets of a bunch of the previously unknown (to humans) animal species that exist only around hot-vent areas like these.

hydrothermal vents like these are believed to hold the origins to all life on this planet, being areas of some of the highest microbial density and animal abundance on earth. this particular hydrothermal ridge is located approximately 200 miles off the coast of vancouver island, and exist at a depth of 2,000 metres. this ridge is host to 12 species not present anywhere else in the world.

this is one of my favourite posters for a couple of reasons – one, because the imagery is gorgeous and a continual reminder of the amazingness of this planet – and two, because it reminds me of what i like about my job, which is that i am always learning new factoids (both interesting and disturbing) about where we live.

i don’t know why all of a sudden i have started with all these work posts – just one of those weeks.