Crab Boil

Hydrothermal vent crabs thrive under enough pressure to crush a car, but can survive at the surface for months or more. They also regularly move between the cold of the seafloor and the heat of the vents. WHOI biologist Carolyn Tepolt is trying to understand what makes these deep-sea organisms so hardy using samples collected during a recent dive by the human-occupied submersible Alvin. (Photo by Ken Kostel, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)