Inky smoke swirls from the Beebe Hydrothermal
Vent Field explored by Alvin of Woods Hole .
Submersible and crew study the flue,
Ranges of ridges rising from tectonics askew .
Cold water creeps through the seafloor cracks,
And minerals flow when the magma interacts .
Under the crushing weight of watery miles
Crustaceans scuttle sideways, tube–worms smile .
Capsule of titanium and syntactic foam
Allow the–little–sub–that–could to roam
And to study with spotlights and robotic limbs
Shipwrecks, geology and creatures that swim .
The latest upgrade can comb ninety–nine percent
Of the basin connecting the continents .

*[ WSB ]_.