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 ]_.