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THE SEA OF CORTEZ Exploring Beneath Steinbeck's Wake MISSION DISPATCH 4 • 03/19/03 Edie Widder - HARBOR BRANCH Oceanographic Institution The Guaymas Basin in the Gulf of California is one of those magical places in the ocean that is an oasis of life. It is a hydrothermal vent community and, for a biologist, it's like finally getting to visit Mecca. The greatest biological discovery of the 
last century occurred in 1977
when a group of geologists took the deep diving submersible ALVIN to the Galapagos and went looking for hot
springs on the ocean floor. What they found were giant tube worms that looked like bunches of blood-red tulips,
and foot long clams and dense mussel beds - a profusion of life in the
middle of a deep-sea desert. What made this such a landmark discovery in biology was that this ecosystem didn't
depend on sunlight for its energy. Rather energy was derived from hydrogen sulfide by sulfur-eating bacteria in
a process known as chemosynthesis.
As midwater biologists our reason for being here is ostensibly to look at the life above the vents. But scientific objectivity demands a careful visual inspection of the vents themselves, or at least that's what we tell ourselves. In reality this is simply a breathtaking vista and I feel very privileged to be here. 
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