A team of scientists from the research organization Max Planck in Germany dumped some stuff into the Eastern Mediterranean Sea in the name of science! They also used underwater robot technology to study the results after dropping four wood logs (Douglas fir) with smaller logs attached on the seafloor at depths of 1,700 meters or over 5,000 feet.

Three of the logs were deployed using the remote operated vehicle (ROV) Quest 4000, the little robot NOAA used back in September of last year to study underwater volcanoes in the Lau Basin. The Max Planck study was conducted in 2006-2007 so the ROV had plenty of time to rest up for NOAA.

The team had to wait a whole year to check on the logs, which were weighed down with cement, and obtain the data needed to prove their hypothesis: that marine microorganisms and invertebrates from hot and cold seeps would flock to the wood due to bacteria activity which produces hydrogen sulfide as the wood is degrading.

Animals that live at seeps need special forms of energy that emerge from the ocean floor like methane and hydrogen sulfide  They carry interdependent bacterial organisms in their bodies that will convert the energy from these compounds into food.

Essentially the researchers wanted to see if deep-sea life were living off the wood until the logs eventually bio-degraded and the marine life had to move on to another stump.

“We were surprised how many animals had populated the wood already after one year. The main colonizers were wood-boring bivalves of the genus Xylophaga, also named ‘shipworms’ after their shallow-water counterparts. The wood-boring Xylophaga essentially constitute the vanguard and prepare the habitat for other followers,”  said the study’s lead author Christina Bienhold, “But they also need assistance from bacteria, namely to make use of the cellulose from the wood, which is difficult to digest.”

To cut a long scientific paper short, eventually every log turned into a bio-diversity hotspot, the scientific term for party. The wood-boring bivalves were living up to their name and acting like little lumberjacks or the official party chef by cutting large parts of the wood into smaller chips which were further degraded by other marine organisms.  

Researchers spotted fish loitering and crabs hiding underneath the log trying to avoid an embarrassing run-in with former significant others while sea urchins preferred to sit on top of the log keeping an eye out for the crabs. Someone invited 150 mussels to one party much to the delight of the researchers. Three groups of small crustaceans were seen at another party but no one got their names so they were left unidentified.