- 95% of the world's oceans,
and 99% of the ocean floor are unexplored.
But even of that which we have discovered,
not much is understood.
Science is at a loss to fully explain
the mysteries of the sea,
which may never fully be explained.
(growling)
Here are the 10 biggest mysteries of the deep sea.
(creepy music) Number 10 is bioluminescence.
Large parts of the ocean are so deep
that sunlight cannot reach the bottom.
In this dark and foreboding place,
animals have developed the ability to generate
their own light through complex chemical signals.
This bioluminescence is one of
the beautiful animal displays in the world,
but their purpose is not fully understood.
Some animals may use
these bright colors to warn predators away,
or to confuse prey,
while others may use their light to attract a male,
but a more radical theory is that in some instances,
these shimmering animal lights
are actually a form of language.
Some researchers have tried to communicate
with these animals at the bottom of the sea using lights.
They had a response from some animals,
but, in the words of one researcher,
I have no idea what they're saying.
(growling) (creepy music)
Number nine are hydrothermal vents.
In 1977, a group of scientists
discovered hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean.
Surprisingly, these jets of gas and water
were surrounded by an ecology of undiscovered animals.
To this day,
researchers are mystified by these implications.
Previous to this, scientists believed
that life could only survive if it was able to
draw energy directly or indirectly from the sun's rays.
But it seems as though the animals surrounding these vents
have evolved to draw energy directly from
the hot material that's escaping from the Earth's crust.
The big mystery is whether some of these animals
evolved completely independently from the rest of the world.
If that's the case, then that means that
life has evolved twice on our planet,
which has huge implications
for the search of life elsewhere.
(growling) (creepy music)
Number 8 is the carbon cycle.
The ocean's impact on climate
is still not fully understood.
This is because
the carbon cycle of the seas is still mystifying.
Carbon is released through the burning of fossil fuels,
and by decomposing plant and animal matter.
Too much carbon in the world,
and heat rises to the point where the ice caps melt,
and many coastal cities end up under water.
For about 50 years,
scientists have been aware that
a large amount of carbon is stored in the oceans,
but no one is sure how quickly
it's released back into the atmosphere.
A recent study from MIT suggests
that the way that the oceans release carbon
could have an even more devastating effect
on climate than we thought.
Which means that our worst case scenario predictions
for climate change may be about to get much, well, worse.
(growling) (creepy music)
Number 7 are vanishing ships.
Throughout history, ships have gone missing at sea.
Some, such as the Mary Celeste,
have reappeared without their crew,
while others were never seen again.
Of course, the sea is a dangerous place,
and so freak waves or large storms
can explain many disappearances.
But not all can be so easily disregarded.
One theory as to why some ships disappear without a trace,
and without even sending out a distress signal,
is that they have sunk to the bottom of the ocean
due to escaping methane from the ocean floor.
When this gas rises in huge amounts,
it reduces the surrounding water's buoyancy.
This, in turn, causes ships to sink fast.
Another explanation is that a freak disturbance
of the Earth's magnetosphere due to solar wind
can cause a ship's instruments to go haywire,
effecting navigation.
But then there are others that believe
entirely in unexplained mysterious circumstances,
which may never be solved.
(growling) (creepy music)
Number six are unidentified sounds.
The ocean is so vast that it doesn't come as a surprise
that there are some strange noises in the depths.
Sounds which remain mysterious.
Sounds which some consider even disturbing.
One such mystery is known as upsweep.
This unidentified sound appears each year
and peaks in spring and autumn.
(deep vibrations)
Another unusual sound is known as slow down,
which appears to be seasonal.
(deep bubbling water)
But perhaps the most famous unexplained sound from the sea
is known as the bloop, recorded in 1997.
(blooping)
It was several times louder
than the sound produced by the largest animal in the world,
the blue whale.
Some experts believe that the sounds
can be explained by ice quakes deep inside icebergs,
but then there are others that argue
that the bloop and a few others have biological qualities.
This means that they may have been
produced by an unknown animal.
But the sheer size of the animal required
to make such a devastatingly loud sound is inconceivable,
and, in many ways, creepy.
(growling) (creepy music)
Number five are sea monsters.
Since man first took to the ocean,
sailors have told stories
of sea serpents lurking beneath the waves,
waiting to strike,
but even in today's modern world of sonar and cell phones,
sightings still persist.
Many of these encounters remain a mystery,
and are often disregarded as hoaxes.
However, as with many legends,
sea monster encounters could be based on actual events.
A number of real animals could explain these stories,
including the colossal squid, for example,
which is believed to reach a staggering 14 meters in length,
with the giant squid just behind that on 13 meters.
Then, there's the ore fish,
which looks serpant-like, at a massive 11 meters long.
Some biologists have also hypothesized
the existence of a truly enormous and gigantic octopus,
which would easily be large enough
to attack a medium-sized boat.
(growling) (creepy music)
Number four is the Baltic Sea anomaly.
The Baltic Sea anomaly was first recorded
by a diving team in 2011,
and since then hasn't been explained.
A Swedish team of treasure hunters
used sonar to map out the area
of the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Finland.
What they found made international headlines.
The Baltic Sea anomaly is about 60 meters in diameter,
circular, and has features which some claim
resemble stairways and other structures.
The same team revisited the area,
and claimed that electrical activity in the region
rendered their instruments useless.
Though it's healthy to look at such claims with skepticism,
the team who discovered the anomaly
maintained that it is not a natural formation.
With explanations ranging
from natural sandstone to alien spacecraft,
these mysteries are sure to continue for some time.
(growling) (creepy music)
Number three is the Australian great white.
In 2017, researchers discovered that a large
great white shark was eaten by something much bigger,
and no one knows exactly what it was.
The three meter shark was swimming in Australian waters,
and had been tagged by a research team
to measure the shark's behavior.
Four months after the shark was tagged,
the tag washed up on the beach.
When researchers retrieved the data, they were shocked.
Before its death, the shark suddenly descended
over half a kilometer at a rapid rate.
Then, the tag recorded a rise in temperature.
The conclusion was that something
had eaten the shark and consumed the tag.
Considering that a great white is an apex predator,
what could have eaten it?
Some suggest that it was a much larger great white,
or an orca, but you have to ask yourself,
what if there was a huge predator out there
that has yet to be discovered?
(growling) (creepy music)
Number two are mass beachings.
Throughout history,
people have observed mass beachings around the world,
and yet, they still remain a mystery.
Such beachings involve dolphins and whales
pulling themselves out of the ocean onto land.
Scientists can explain isolated incidents,
when a single animal beaches itself,
which is often due to the animal being sick or disoriented.
However, when huge numbers of animals wash up on shore,
one after another, it's harder to explain.
As recently as February of 2017,
650 pilot whales beached themselves
on one stretch of coast in New Zealand.
Hundreds of them died,
while a few were helped back into the water.
Theories for this strange mass behavior
include naval sonar interfering with whale echolocation,
or animals trying to escape polluted water,
but to this day, nobody knows.
(growling) (creepy music)
And number one is the Bermeja Island.
The Bermeja Island is perhaps
the greatest sea mystery of all time.
Recorded on several maps
between the 16th and 20th centuries,
Bermeja was located off the north coast
of the Yucatan Peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico.
But what makes Bermeja so mysterious
is that it is not there anymore.
Several people and agencies have set out
to find the diminutive little island without success.
No one is sure where it went;
however, several theories have been proposed,
including changes in the height of the sea floor
submerging the island beneath the waves.
Others suggest that the island
was deliberately destroyed by the CIA.
With Bermeja being removed, then its owners, Mexico,
would have a weaker claim
on the waters which surrounded it.
Where did this mysterious island go,
and has it sunk to the bottom of the deep ocean?
No one knows.
The 10 biggest mysteries of the sea,
what do you make of them?
Do you think that science will
be able to explain them one day,
or is there something else more mysterious at play here?
Leave a comment below and start a conversation
and let me know. I'll see you next time.