In October 2011, patches of pale-coloured water began appearing off the island’s southern coast, dead fish floated on the ocean surface, and locals noted a strong smell of sulphur in the air. These, it turned out, were the first signs of the first submarine volcanic eruption in the last 500 years of volcanology history of the Canary Islands at 1.8 km south of La Restinga village, some 400 metres below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. In that moment, the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) together with both Canary Universities and other research institutions began to monitor the event. The eruption continued until March the following year, leaving the cone of the volcano just 88 metres below the water’s surface. Nowadays, the submarine volcano is still active in a degasification phase with a release of heat, gases and metals that produce significant physical-chemical anomalies in the surrounding waters. The volcano-affected area has exhibited responses that are occurring globally, making El Hierro a unique natural laboratory where the main climate change stressors are acting simultaneously. The results emerging from this volcanic eruption will help to improve the scientific understanding of how future climate change may impact marine biota. On the other hand, we now have the perfect opportunity to find out how the colonization process evolves in a new submarine volcanic habitat, i.e. without any previous inhabiting form of life and in such a young substrate. After the eruption event, new basaltic lava material covered the major part of the sea bottom of “El Mar de Las Calmas”, a Marine Reserve, damaging all previous habitats and living organisms. During my internship I will study and establish the colonization process that took place from 03/2012 to 03/2014 at the submarine volcano, bearing in mind the species diversification among time and place and the physical-chemical and biological conditions that made that possible. In order to do this, underwater visual techniques and dredges were used during three cruises.