Photo: NOAA Ocean Explorer
Scientists just can’t stop finding creepy metallic orbs on the bottom of the ocean. First there were a bunch of metallic “spherules” on the ocean floor that led everyone to have a collective alien freak-out, and now we have some sort of fleshy golden orb to deal with, thanks to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Seascape Alaska 5 expedition. The still-unexplained object was discovered deep in the Gulf of Alaska, and is soon to be found in your nightmares.
The entire process was live streamed on August 30 by NOAA researchers. “It’s definitely got a big old hole in it,” one researcher says on the broadcast. “So something either tried to get in or tried to get out.” Later on, the scientists decided to poke the mysterious object, which is honestly what most of us would have done in that situation. “I just hope when we poke it, something doesn’t decide to come out,” a scientist said, before joking. “It’s like the beginning of a horror movie.”
There scientists did successfully collect the orb and bring it to the surface, but expedition coordinator Sam Candio told the Washington Post that it will be some time before they actually know what it is. “We still are not able to identify it beyond the fact that it is biological in origin.” He added, “We likely won’t learn more until we are able to get it into a laboratory setting.” However, various researchers have speculated that the object is most likely the egg case of an invertebrate or a damaged sea sponge.
The discovery was found on the Seascape Alaska 5 expedition. The mission began on August 23, 2023, in Kodiak, Alaska, and will end on September 16, 2023, in Seward, Alaska. The goal of the project, per NOAA, is to “fill gaps in our understanding of the region by conducting focused mapping and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) operations.” The expedition will also “explore deep-sea coral and sponge habitats, fish habitats, chemosynthetic communities, and the water column and to improve knowledge of past and potential geohazards.” The entire process is being live-streamed on YouTube, in case you wanted a front-row seat to the continuing horror show.
Candio had a hearteningly optimistic take on the strange discovery. “While somewhat humbling to be stumped by this finding, it serves as a reminder of how little we know about our own planet and how much is left to learn and appreciate about our ocean.”
