We didn't see what we were expecting,

 We didn't see what we were expecting,

" Nick Dragone, the lead study author and a doctoral student in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado, said in a statement. "We thought we'd see organisms you find when a glacier retreats, or cyanobacteria, more typical early colonizer species — but instead we found a unique group of bacteria that metabolize sulfur and atmospheric gases." 

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, which was named after the two islands it sprouted up between, began forming underwater in December 2014 after the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai submarine volcano and emerged above the ocean's surface in January 2015, eventually forming a 0.7-square-mile large (1.9

 kilometers squared) island. According to the researchers, Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai was the third landmass in the last 150 years to appear and persist for more than a year, and the first in tropical regions — giving them a rare opportunity for further study.