May 31, 2005— Ocean researchers have discovered a new, fast-growing volcano near Samoa in the Pacific Ocean — guarded by eels.

The volcano, sprouting inside the undersea summit of an older, larger slumbering volcano called Vailulu'u, is building at the unprecedented rate of at least eight inches per day.

Surveys from just four years ago showed no sign of the new, active volcano, which scientists have named "Nafanua," for the Samoan goddess of war.

"We were there last in 2001 and the volcano was not there," said Hubert Staudigel, a geologist with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.

Today Nafanua stands at about 1,000 feet underneath the waves. It's expected to double its height within decades.

New measurements of ocean depths at the site had revealed an unexplained shallowing inside Vailulu'u's main crater, spurring a closer examination in April with the manned, seven-foot submersible sphere Pisces V.

Operated by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory, Pisces V can reach depths of 6,000 feet.

The deep sea explorers found a fog of volcanic soot in old Vailulu'u's crater, limiting their view to just 10 feet.

But that was enough to see that the crater's floor was draped in a yellow "fluff" made of microbes and strange, fragile porous rock pillars teeming with eels.

Unlike the occasional lone eel that is normally encountered in the deep sea, the Nafanua eels were smaller and numbered in the hundreds, said Staudigel.

Just what the eels live on and why they are present near the erupting volcano is a mystery, he said.

"These eels must somehow be related to the chemical energy in the eruption," Staudigel said. In other words, the chemicals coming out of the volcano's hydrothermal vents are feeding the microbial fluff, which is either eaten by the eels or by something else that is, in turn, eaten by the eels.

"Something like this has never been observed," Staudigel said.

The growth of Nafanua is probably part of a longterm process in which Vailulu'u re-grows its conical top — as Mount St. Helens is now doing and probably does after blowing its top every few centuries.

This could theoretically pose some threat of tsunamis and other problems for nearby islands.

"It is a good idea for us to keep our eyes on this area, but there is no real reason for concern about immediate danger," said geochemist Stan Hart of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

With this and basic exploration in mind, the researchers placed automated instruments around Nafanua to record what is happening.

The researchers will return in July to collect them and their data, said Staudigel.