Devil’s Hole recently became the focus of a team of researchers studying microbiology, sparking a scientific journal which was published this month.

A spokeswoman for the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) described Devil’s Hole as a “natural laboratory” which provided scientists with a unique opportunity to study microbial organisms.

In 2008, a team of researchers from BIOS, the University of California at Santa Barbara, Oregon State University and several interns came together to study the microbial communities at the tourist attraction.

“Due to its location, Devil’s Hole has a relatively low water flow,” the spokeswoman explained. “This, in combination with high nutrient run-off from the surrounding land, leads to the production of organic matter in the water.

“This organic matter eventually sinks and it consumed by a variety of microbes. Microbes are an important part of the aquatic system, helping to cycle nutrients throughout the ecosystem and serving as a food source for other organisms.”

“In the summer, the water in Devil’s Hole is heated by the sun causing a thermocline, in which warm water closer to the surface is separated from the cooler waters below. Because the layers don’t mix, microbes in the lower level use up the available oxygen resulting in hypoxia (low oxygen levels) or anoxia (no measurable oxygen) in the deeper water.

“The team of researchers observed a clear transition in the microbial community within Devil’s Hole as the thermocline developed and oxygen levels became depleted,” the spokeswoman said. “By applying molecular approaches and genomic sequencing, they were also able to identify which organisms died off and which ones flourished.

“The results from Devil’s Hole may prove to be of interest to scientists around the globe who are studying oxygen minimum zones that are expanding as a result of nutrient inputs and climate change.”

Researchers returned to Devil’s Hole in 2009 and 2011 to continue their research, and a resulting scientific journal was published in the May edition of ‘Environmental Microbiology.’