This is SeaTalk: Ocean News from the University of Delaware.

University of Delaware scientists recently led an international team on an expedition to explore one of the most extreme environments on the planet: hydrothermal vents. The researchers plunged more than two miles beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean to learn more about the mysterious organisms that thrive in the areas around these geysers on the seafloor. But scientists weren’t the only ones learning about these animals that survive scalding water, toxic chemicals, and total darkness. More than 21,000 students from 350 schools participated in the mission via an interactive web site, curriculum, and other activities, including a “phone call to the deep” in which students asked questions about what it’s like to travel to the bottom of the ocean. Hear those phone calls, read the scientists’ blogs, and learn more about the creatures of the deep at expeditions.udel.edu. This is SeaTalk, a public service announcement from the University of Delaware, the Delaware Sea Grant College Program, and this station.