To produce usable gas, methane is separated from from a "cage" of ice by sucking out seawater to lower the surrounding pressure.

CNN: Japan warms to 'fire ice' potential

In six research papers published in Science, an international team described how the hominids had almost-human hands attached to apelike arms, a rib cage that was narrow like an ape's at the top but more humanlike lower down, and a spine that likely had the same number of vertebrae as a human.

WSJ: Creature Combined Human, Ape Traits