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Life in Hot Water: Wildlife at the Bottom of the Ocean
A dramatic overview of the deep-sea extremophiles that thrive in scalding water and permanent darkness at the bottom of the ocean
The scalding-hot water gushing from vents at the bottom of the ocean is one of the most extreme environments on Earth. Yet over millions of years, many organisms—from chemical-eating bacteria to eyeless crabs and iron-shelled snails—have evolved in amazing ways that enable them to thrive in this unlikely habitat. Scientists are hard at work to learn more about the complex ecosystems of the ocean depths.
Award-winning science writer Mary Batten and New York Times best-selling illustrator Thomas Gonzalez, the masterful duo that created Life in a Frozen World, team up again in this impressive overview of hydrothermal ocean vents. Her clear, informative text coupled with his unique and eerily realistic paintings of sights never seen on land—gushing "black smokers," ghostly blind shrimp, red-plumed tube worms—will entice readers to learn more about this once-hidden world at the bottom of the sea.
An NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book
The scalding-hot water gushing from vents at the bottom of the ocean is one of the most extreme environments on Earth. Yet over millions of years, many organisms—from chemical-eating bacteria to eyeless crabs and iron-shelled snails—have evolved in amazing ways that enable them to thrive in this unlikely habitat. Scientists are hard at work to learn more about the complex ecosystems of the ocean depths.
Award-winning science writer Mary Batten and New York Times best-selling illustrator Thomas Gonzalez, the masterful duo that created Life in a Frozen World, team up again in this impressive overview of hydrothermal ocean vents. Her clear, informative text coupled with his unique and eerily realistic paintings of sights never seen on land—gushing "black smokers," ghostly blind shrimp, red-plumed tube worms—will entice readers to learn more about this once-hidden world at the bottom of the sea.
An NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book
40 pages, Paperback
Published August 6, 2024
About the author
Mary Batten
39 books7 followersMary Batten is an award-winning writer for television, film and publishing. Her many writing projects have taken her into tropical rainforests, astronomical observatories, scientific laboratories, and medical research centers.
She is the author of many books for children. The most recent are Life in Hot Water: Wildlife at the Bottom of the Ocean (Peachtree 2021), NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students K-12; Life in A Frozen World: Wildlife of Antarctica (Peachtree 2020) and Spit: What's Cool About Drool (Firefly 2019). Other books include: Baby Orca (Penguin Random House 2016); Rattler (Penguin Random House 2016); Please Don't Wake the Animals: A Book about Sleep (Peachtree 2008); Who Has A Belly Button (Peachtree 2004); Aliens from Earth ((Peachtree 2003) – 2006 Isaak Walton Conservation Book of the Year Award; Selected by New York City Public Schools in support of 4th grade science requirement for the study of ecosystems (Revised & updated edition Peachtree 2016); Hey, Daddy! Animal Fathers and Their Babies – Named Outstanding Science Read Aloud 2003 by the National Association for the Advancement of Science (Peachtree 2002); Wild Cats (Penguin Random House 2002); Anthropologist: Scientist of the People -- Named Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children by the National Science Teachers Association and the Children's Book Council (Houghton Mifflin 2001); Hungry Plants (Penguin Random House 2000); The Winking, Blinking Sea -- Named one of the Best Children's Books for 2001 (Millbrook Press, 2000); Extinct! Creatures of the Past (Golden Books, 2000); Baby Wolf (Grosset and Dunlap, 1998); Sexual Strategies: How Females Choose Their Mates, (Tarcher/Putnam, 1994; reprinted with new introduction by iUniverse 2008); Nature's Tricksters (Sierra Club Books/Little Brown, 1992), Discovery By Chance (Funk and Wagnalls) and The Tropical Forest: Ants, Ants, Animals and Plants (T.Y. Crowell). She has appeared on OPRAH. TOM SNYDER and various other television shows and done many radio interviews.
Her magazine articles are published in a variety of publications, including the online journal Pie & Chai, and print ppublications Cosmopolitan, Ladies Home Journal, Modern Maturity, Shape, International Wildlife, National Geographic World, ZooNooz, Science Digest, Calypso Log, and Dolphin Log.
Mary Batten was nominated for an Emmy for her work on the Children's Television Workshop's science series 3-2-1-CONTACT, and she has written some 50 nature documentaries for television series, including the syndicated WILD WILD WORLD OF ANIMALS (Time-Life Films) and others for National Geographic and Disney Educational Films.
Her magazine article for Science Digest, "Sexual Choice: The Female's Newly Discovered Role," won The Newswomen's Club of New York's Front Page Award for best feature story.
She was editor of The Cousteau Society's award-winning membership magazine, Calypso Log, for six years.
She was married to the late composer Ed Bland. They have two children.
She is the author of many books for children. The most recent are Life in Hot Water: Wildlife at the Bottom of the Ocean (Peachtree 2021), NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students K-12; Life in A Frozen World: Wildlife of Antarctica (Peachtree 2020) and Spit: What's Cool About Drool (Firefly 2019). Other books include: Baby Orca (Penguin Random House 2016); Rattler (Penguin Random House 2016); Please Don't Wake the Animals: A Book about Sleep (Peachtree 2008); Who Has A Belly Button (Peachtree 2004); Aliens from Earth ((Peachtree 2003) – 2006 Isaak Walton Conservation Book of the Year Award; Selected by New York City Public Schools in support of 4th grade science requirement for the study of ecosystems (Revised & updated edition Peachtree 2016); Hey, Daddy! Animal Fathers and Their Babies – Named Outstanding Science Read Aloud 2003 by the National Association for the Advancement of Science (Peachtree 2002); Wild Cats (Penguin Random House 2002); Anthropologist: Scientist of the People -- Named Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children by the National Science Teachers Association and the Children's Book Council (Houghton Mifflin 2001); Hungry Plants (Penguin Random House 2000); The Winking, Blinking Sea -- Named one of the Best Children's Books for 2001 (Millbrook Press, 2000); Extinct! Creatures of the Past (Golden Books, 2000); Baby Wolf (Grosset and Dunlap, 1998); Sexual Strategies: How Females Choose Their Mates, (Tarcher/Putnam, 1994; reprinted with new introduction by iUniverse 2008); Nature's Tricksters (Sierra Club Books/Little Brown, 1992), Discovery By Chance (Funk and Wagnalls) and The Tropical Forest: Ants, Ants, Animals and Plants (T.Y. Crowell). She has appeared on OPRAH. TOM SNYDER and various other television shows and done many radio interviews.
Her magazine articles are published in a variety of publications, including the online journal Pie & Chai, and print ppublications Cosmopolitan, Ladies Home Journal, Modern Maturity, Shape, International Wildlife, National Geographic World, ZooNooz, Science Digest, Calypso Log, and Dolphin Log.
Mary Batten was nominated for an Emmy for her work on the Children's Television Workshop's science series 3-2-1-CONTACT, and she has written some 50 nature documentaries for television series, including the syndicated WILD WILD WORLD OF ANIMALS (Time-Life Films) and others for National Geographic and Disney Educational Films.
Her magazine article for Science Digest, "Sexual Choice: The Female's Newly Discovered Role," won The Newswomen's Club of New York's Front Page Award for best feature story.
She was editor of The Cousteau Society's award-winning membership magazine, Calypso Log, for six years.
She was married to the late composer Ed Bland. They have two children.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 11, 2022
Informative but very text heavy, and the illustrations are not very attractive.
June 12, 2025
Mary Batten’s book, Life in Hot Water, introduces your favorite kids to a stunning world of wildlife at the bottom of the ocean and the fascinating story of its discovery and exploration.
For years, scientists had predicted the existence of vents spewing out hot water thousands of feet below the ocean’s surface. But they had no way to prove their theory, until they invented a device called a tow-yo, that sent a probe a mile-and-a-half down into the ocean – and found water hot enough to melt lead.
In easy-to-understand language, Batten introduces us to the huge, underwater mountain range that hosts these vents, and the amazing high-tech way scientists got to actually go visit the vents up close, in water so deep it’s totally dark.
The scientists found a unique ecosystem of worms, mussels, shrimp, and crabs and Batten explains how these creatures manage to live in water two-and-a-half times hotter than boiling. She writes about bizarre mineral tree-like forms, dozens of feet high, that grow continually, even though they are not living.
You and your kids will discover why these vents aren’t actually leaks from underwater volcanoes erupting, but how volcanoes cause them nonetheless. The valuable metals that spout from these vents. And how scientists “read” the temperature of a vent by the color of its smoke.
Batten also explains how bacteria turn stinky, smelly poisonous gas into food for animals living around hydrothermal vents, and why scientists were totally surprised by this.
How does a snail living around hot water vents grow a solid metal shell? How does a crab with no eyes raise its own food with its chest hair? Why don’t tubeworms need a mouth or gut to grow faster than almost any animal on earth? This book, beautifully illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez, answers all these questions and more.
It’s important for your favorite kids to know about the world of hot water vents for two reasons. They may be just as essential to regulating the earth’s environment as rainforests. And life on earth could have actually begun at hydrothermal vents. Life in Hot Water is the perfect introduction. And it’s a perfect tool to get kids hooked on science.
For years, scientists had predicted the existence of vents spewing out hot water thousands of feet below the ocean’s surface. But they had no way to prove their theory, until they invented a device called a tow-yo, that sent a probe a mile-and-a-half down into the ocean – and found water hot enough to melt lead.
In easy-to-understand language, Batten introduces us to the huge, underwater mountain range that hosts these vents, and the amazing high-tech way scientists got to actually go visit the vents up close, in water so deep it’s totally dark.
The scientists found a unique ecosystem of worms, mussels, shrimp, and crabs and Batten explains how these creatures manage to live in water two-and-a-half times hotter than boiling. She writes about bizarre mineral tree-like forms, dozens of feet high, that grow continually, even though they are not living.
You and your kids will discover why these vents aren’t actually leaks from underwater volcanoes erupting, but how volcanoes cause them nonetheless. The valuable metals that spout from these vents. And how scientists “read” the temperature of a vent by the color of its smoke.
Batten also explains how bacteria turn stinky, smelly poisonous gas into food for animals living around hydrothermal vents, and why scientists were totally surprised by this.
How does a snail living around hot water vents grow a solid metal shell? How does a crab with no eyes raise its own food with its chest hair? Why don’t tubeworms need a mouth or gut to grow faster than almost any animal on earth? This book, beautifully illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez, answers all these questions and more.
It’s important for your favorite kids to know about the world of hot water vents for two reasons. They may be just as essential to regulating the earth’s environment as rainforests. And life on earth could have actually begun at hydrothermal vents. Life in Hot Water is the perfect introduction. And it’s a perfect tool to get kids hooked on science.
December 30, 2022
This fascinating account of an unfamiliar region of Earth is a 3.5 for me, and it will surely spark curiosity and imagination on the part of young readers. Until recently, very little was known about the ocean's depths and the creatures that live on or near the planet's hydrothermal vents. Temperatures are extremely hot at these points, but somehow, various types of lifeforms manage to survive there. Bacteria that eat chemicals as well as snails, crabs, and tubeworms that have evolved to thrive in these spots have led to a change in thinking about how food is produced. Rather than solely through photosynthesis, scientists had to acknowledge the importance of chemosynthesis while trying to puzzle out how any creature could survive on toxic chemicals. Scientists are just starting to explore these areas, and some theorize that finding life in places that are completely inhabitable to humans might mean that similar life--not like ours--may exist on other planets. Although the book is too text-heavy for some tastes and not suited for very young readers, for this who are interested in extremes, this book will be revelatory, intriguing., and sure to evoke a sense of unexplored possibilities, part of what makes science so fascinating. While some reviewers didn't care of the illustrations, created with pastel, colored pencils, and airbrush techniques, to my way of thinking, they stylishly complement the mysterious, almost eerie subject matter, providing possible glimpses of what lies way down deep and encouraging imaginative thinking about what else might be there. The book's title is clever too.
September 7, 2022
In the inky blackness at the bottom of the sea,
where the sun never shines, where water hot enough
to melt lead gushes from chimneys, lie the most
extreme environments on Earth--
hydrothermal units.
A book for intense 4th-8th grade independent or partner reading on a fascinating topic. Batten introduces readers to the evolution of technology (that has helped us go miles below the ocean's surface), the presence of ridges in the ocean and the hydrothermal units and ecosystems that accompany them. She explains chemosynthesis (vs. photosynthesis) and describes some of the dynamic creatures that have adapted to survive in this ecosystem (e.g., iron snails, blind shrimp, vent octopus). Well written with illustrations by Thomas Gonzalez that beg readers to look closely and think about and beyond the text.
Students might read a few other titles BEFORE they read this one - titles that might provide some background knowledge for better understanding of this book -
*Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor by Burleigh
*Otis and Will Discover the Deep: The Record-Setting Dive of the Bathysphere by Rosenstock
*The Strangest Thing in the Sea: And Other Curious Creatures of the Deep by Rachel Poliquin
where the sun never shines, where water hot enough
to melt lead gushes from chimneys, lie the most
extreme environments on Earth--
hydrothermal units.
A book for intense 4th-8th grade independent or partner reading on a fascinating topic. Batten introduces readers to the evolution of technology (that has helped us go miles below the ocean's surface), the presence of ridges in the ocean and the hydrothermal units and ecosystems that accompany them. She explains chemosynthesis (vs. photosynthesis) and describes some of the dynamic creatures that have adapted to survive in this ecosystem (e.g., iron snails, blind shrimp, vent octopus). Well written with illustrations by Thomas Gonzalez that beg readers to look closely and think about and beyond the text.
Students might read a few other titles BEFORE they read this one - titles that might provide some background knowledge for better understanding of this book -
*Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor by Burleigh
*Otis and Will Discover the Deep: The Record-Setting Dive of the Bathysphere by Rosenstock
*The Strangest Thing in the Sea: And Other Curious Creatures of the Deep by Rachel Poliquin
February 1, 2023
With illustrations so stunningly lifelike that they seem like photographs, Life in Hot Water introduces readers to the the life surrounding hydrothermal vents. These extreme environments full of toxic chemicals and gushing hot water manage to maintain a habitat in which some rather remarkable creatures manage to survive. Scientists theorized for years about the existence of such vents but it wasn't until the 1970s that the means existed to visit the bottom of the ocean to find out for sure. Batten provides readers with an overview of vents and what scientists have learned about them over the years, including how they form, where they tend to be found, and some of the living organisms that have been discovered living around them. There is much to be learned here about one of the earth's most unusual habitats. Creatures such as as the scaly-foot snail, eyeless Hoff crabs, and the Pompeii worm feature in both the well-written, easy to read text and the beautiful full two-page spreads. A fabulous, informative read perfect for young readers with an insatiable hunger for knowledge about the ocean. The back matter includes 10 additional facts about the topic along with an author's note, glossary, and selected bibliography. A book that I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend for young science aficionados.
September 25, 2022
This narrative nonfiction (4th-8th) is chalk filled with new information about a mystery to most of us. What happens at the bottom of the deep sea. This text could be used as a read aloud to expose students to this new world or have students read excerpts from the text to practice pulling important details from narrative nonfiction.
February 28, 2023
One that I randomly found at the library that tied in perfectly with our homeschool science topic. Lots of good, up to date information about hydrothermal vents and the life that lives there, and the artwork is lovely. Note for any homeschoolers that are considering this, evolution is discussed within the book, particularly on the last page of the narrative.
October 5, 2022
4 stars. This story was interesting but the pictures were just so... blah. The cover is the most vibrant in the book. yes, we are talking about deep underwater where it is dark, but it just wasn't my taste.
April 11, 2026
"Toxic chemicals in the vent fluid are the base of vent food chains. Chemicals from inside the Earth, not sunlight, power the vent ecosystem. Scientists call this process chemosynthesis. It is one of the most important discoveries of the twentieth century."
November 12, 2022
Fascinating look at the deep ocean, rich dark illustrations.
November 13, 2022
Information is fascinating and illustrations are surreal.
December 15, 2022
Excellent illustrations and awesome facts.
December 24, 2022
A clear, readable look at a fascinating ecosystem.
May 31, 2023
I found this very interesting. The text is probably for an upper elementary student. The illustrations were a bit problematic in that many times, I just wasn't sure what I was even looking at.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews