From remnants of a lunar launch to the ruins of sunken cities, today we look at Bizarre Things Found In The Ocean.
#10 Seven Pagodas of Mahabalipuram The shore of the south Indian city of Mahabalipuram
is home to a structure known as the Shore Temple.
It is believed that this temple is but one of several that compose the legendary Seven
Pagodas of Mahabalipuram For many years it was believed that the existence of the other
temples was little more than legend as evidence was typically anecdotal.
However, after many claims, scientists decided to investigate in 2002 and found structural
layouts for what could be temples in the form of submerged walls 500 to 700 yards off the
coast.
It wasn’t until the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and subsequent tsunami that further evidence
of the other temples was found.
The shoreline near Mahabalipuram shifted so much that an entire statue of a lion revealed
itself from the loose sediment that had hidden it for centuries.
Coincidentally, scientists believe a similarly sized tsunami is responsible for originally
sinking the Seven Pagodas in the 13th century.
#9 Antikythera Mechanism More than a century ago, the world’s first
analogical computer was uncovered in an underwater excavation led by archaeologist Valerios Stais.
The device used cog and gear like components to track the movement of the sun and moon,
allowing for both the astronomical prediction and study of eclipses in addition to tracking
the calendar year.
Discovered off the Greek island of Antikythera (an-tee-kith-era), given its location and
accompanying artifacts, it is believed the mechanism was being delivered from Rhodes
to Rome.
This theory is further supported by the fact the computer accounts for a specific variation
in the moon’s velocity during orbit, an anomaly studied in the 2nd century by the
astronomer Hipparchus of Rhodes.
Today the Antikythera Mechanism can be found at many exhibitions and reconstructed displays
detailing the history of the object and its use.
Exhibits about the analogue computer have been featured in New York, Montana, Germany,
and France.
The mechanism and all its known pieces can be viewed at the National Archaeological Museum
in Athens, Greece.
#8 Black Sea Shipwrecks In 2016, a group of scientists conducted a
deep sea investigation to map out the desolate ruins that sit at the bottom of the Black
Sea.
What they ended up finding was about 40 shipwrecks, ranging from the 9th to the 19th century and
representative of the Byzantine to the Ottoman and nearly every empire between.
And in spectacular condition to boot!
The nature of the Black Sea creates a natural environment for preservation.
It is a layered lake in that the deeper waters of the lake are composed of anoxic water,
or water that is depleted of dissolved oxygen.
This lack of oxygen not only preserves artifacts from oxidation erosion, but also the damage
that would come from the wildlife that may otherwise inhabit this area.
Thanks to the discovery of these ships by the Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project,
scientists are now at work determining how to properly go about exploring and excavating
them for the artifacts they hold.
#7 Apollo 11’s Engines On July 16th, 1969, two astronauts aboard
the Saturn V rocket would begin the most iconic journey to space in history.
Launching from the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, Neil Armstrong and
Buzz Aldrin started the eight day round-trip adventure to step on the Moon.
But at the very start of that journey, on the day of the launch, a piece of history
would go lost for more than 40 years: the engines.
With the help of enhanced sonar scanning, the F-1 engines belonging to the Apollo 11
launch were discovered with the funding of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
The deep sea sonar technology used made it possible to find the engines lying along the
ocean floor at more than 14,000 feet underwater.
#6 Coelacanth The idea of prehistoric creatures surviving
beneath the ocean depths is commonplace in modern cinema, specifically the science fiction
and horror genres.
But reality isn’t too far away with living fossils like giant tortoises, crocodiles,
sharks and, of course, the coelacanth.
A large fish with a potential weight of 200 pounds and length of 6 feet, this man-sized
water monster dwells along the ocean floor.
Representing a rare lobe-finned family of fish, the 2 extant coelacanth species can
be found in the West Indian Ocean and in the waters off Sulawesi, Indonesia.
These two species are believed to be the last of nearly 120 species of lobe-finned fish
known from the fossil record, and the final remnants of a 360 million-year-old lineage.
Before 1938, scientists had written off the coelacanth as going extinct 65 million years
ago.
It wasn’t until one was caught in South Africa that notice of the creatures continued
existence began to spread.
In addition to their longevity, coelacanth are known for their close relation to lungfish
and thus tetrapods and the missing link between land and water traversing animals.
Some of their quirky and rare features assist with this “missing link” qualification,
such as slimy mucus-covered scales, live births, a wide-hinged jaw, unique and fleshy limb-like
fins and more.
The coelacanth is a truly bizarre specimen.
#5 Jurassic Microbes Thirty meters below the floor of the Pacific
Ocean, a landmass churns with a community of deep-sea microbes dating 86 million years
old.
The single-celled organisms still manage to consume oxygen, scientists say, but at rates
that are absurdly low.
Microbial organisms make up are the most numerous lifeforms in existence, with 90% of their
total population residing beneath the sea floor.
These microbes, according to scientists studying the ocean floor, have not been able to consume
any fresh food regularly since being buried.
As a result, they’ve survived this long by way of minimal exertion.
To take it a step further, the researchers found it would take the microbes nearly 1,000
years to double or halve their biomass, a normal living function of a single-celled
organism.
This means these microbial communities are barely living, if they are at all, and it
will take about 1,000 years of waiting and watching to know for sure.
#4 Ancient Cities Though tsunamis and typhoons ransack our coastal
cities and towns annually in the modern era, our yearly storms don’t hold a candle to
the ancient sea storms of old.
Buried deep beneath the ocean, lost cities from ages past have yielded priceless artifacts
since scientists began thoroughly investigating them in the 20th century.
The Greek city of Helike was said to be sacked by the vengeance of Poseidon, however researchers
have found that a large earthquake and accompanying tsunami to be at fault for the city’s submersion.
Some scholars believe Helike (hel-uh-kee) to be the inspiration for Plato’s writings
on the city of Atlantis.
It wasn’t until 2001 that the city was uncovered after a 7-year search.
Suffering a similar fate, the city of Thonis-Heracleion (tohn-is-herr-ack-leon), an Egyptian city
dedicated to the Greek Herakles, was also discovered submerged after a dedicated, multi-year
search in 1999.
Another famed Greek city to end up submerged is Pavlopetri.
It is believed to be one of the oldest submerged cities at 5,000 years old.
Many other port cities became lost to the deep sea throughout history, including the
Caribbean pirate hub of Port Royal and the religious Indian city of Dwarka.
As technology improves, however, these lost cities become more found by the minute.
Look out, Atlantis, you might be next!
#3 Giant Squid While primarily known for the various legendary
creatures it’s inspired in popular fiction like the Kraken and Cthulhu , somewhere below
the murky depths of the sea resides the real deal.
For years the giant squid would remain a legend, with tales being passed via anecdotal findings
or sometimes from scientific writings.
It wasn’t until 1861 when part of a giant squid was actually secured and transported
by a French naval vessel that the creature’s existence was recognized by academics at large.
More evidence would wash up over time, with some full bodied specimens appearing near
Newfoundland and New Zealand.
Even though some giant squid specimen would be discovered by the late 19th century, we
still would wait another century before concrete evidence of a live specimen would be recorded.
For the most part, the giant squid could inhabit depths of 300 to 1,000 meters, making it incredibly
difficult to study and recover.
For years, the majority of physical evidence was composed of stranded bodies that had washed
up on shore or half-digested samples pulled from the stomachs of sperm whales.
They weren’t in great condition, to say the least.
However, thanks to advancements in technology, that has changed drastically.
Throughout the 2000s, advancements were finally made as the first photos, live observations,
and videos took place regarding the animal.
Though still rare to encounter and difficult to lure, the number of known giant squid specimens
is nearly 700 as of 2011, with new ones being found yearly.
It’s taken a long time, but the mysteries of this legendary, tentacled creature are
finally unravelling.
#2 Black Smokers Between Norway and Greenland, a formation
crafted from seawater and magma emits tufts of chemicals measuring in at 700-degrees Fahrenheit.
These hydrothermal vents are often referred to as the Black Smokers due to dark hue of
the iron sulfide deposits that form these chimney-like structures.
In this complex of fluid-spitting splendor are five vents, one of which stands at almost
four stories tall.
This is the largest sulfide deposit recorded to date.
The existence of this formation has boggled the minds of researchers who, at the time,
didn’t believe such a formation to be possible in that environment.
But that factor is precisely what makes this undersea hot spring bizarre!
#1 Chuuk Lagoon The wreckage of Japanese ships and aircraft
litter the ocean floor of the Pacific Ocean north of New Guinea.
This area in the Caroline Islands known as Chuuk Lagoon is home to the Japanese Imperial
Fleet since the end of the second world war.
The lagoon acted as the Empire of Japan’s South Pacific base, forming a front for the
Japanese against forces stationed in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
Some of the military vehicles kept here included aircraft carriers, battleships, cargo ships,
cruisers, destroyers, gunboats, minesweepers, landing craft, submarines, tankers, and tugboats.
This vast collection of planes and ships created what would be known as the biggest graveyard
of ships in the world and was the subject of world famous marine conservationist Jacques
Cousteau’s 1969 film “Ghost Fleet.”
This film led to the initial exploration and recovery of the site.
It is said that the fleet itself is partially visible from the water’s surface, and the
remains of their occupants are still within the vehicles below.
While the tales of the lagoon and its means for coming to be are relatively grim, its
current state is one full of life.
Currently the wrecks are encrusted in thick layers of coral and attract a variety of underwater
wildlife to the area.
A team of scientists in 2007 identified 266 different species of reef fish in the area,
as well as Acropora pichoni, a rare yellow coral.