Ocean Literacy Talk Series | Unveiling Deep-Sea Cold Seeps
Discovery of New Species and Their Adaptations to Dark Extreme Environments
Time & Location
08 Aug 2026, 14:30 – 15:30
Hong Kong Maritime Museum, Man Kwong St, Central, Hong Kong
About the Event
📢 Sign up now: https://forms.gle/eJimQJLvLLKPrAM6A
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Cold seeps, areas on the deep-sea floor where hydrocarbon-rich fluids seep out, are widely distributed across ocean depths ranging from 200 to 9,000 meters. Their ecosystems are akin to "oases" in the deep sea, nurturing abundant and unique chemosynthetic biological communities that include tube worms, deep-sea mussels, and cold-water corals. They hold significant scientific value for exploring the origins of life and the adaptability of organisms to extreme environments.
Professor Qiu Jianwen of the Hong Kong Baptist University became the first Hong Kong scientist to participate in a voyage of China's domestically developed manned deep-submersible vehicle "Jiaolong" in 2013. Since then, he has conducted a series of biological studies on cold seeps – ecosystems independent of light-driven energy – to answer several questions: What organisms exist in cold seeps? How can they thrive in such environments? Where do they come from, and where are they headed…