11. GRANITE HEAD OF CAESARION
Ptolemy XV Caesar, who went by the nickname Caesarion,
was Egypt’s last pharaoh and Cleopatra’s illegitimate son with Julius Caesar.
He reigned alongside his mother until she committed suicide in 30 B.C. and continued
ruling on his own until the Roman emperor Octavian had him put to death not very long after. He was
quite the threat to his rule and there was no way Octavian was going to let him live.
There are very few surviving images of Caesarion since most of them were destroyed.
One of these depictions came in the form of an enormous granite head that was pulled
from the harbor of Alexandria in 1997. Dating back to the first century B.C.,
it was found in a section of the ancient city that was submerged by earthquakes and tidal waves.
The head was likely once part of a complete statue of the ruler.
Alexandria’s underwater ruins consist of numerous other fascinating artifacts, including a marble
head of the Roman princess Antonia Minor, a sphinx, several shipwrecks, and much more.
10. SS THISTLEGORM VEHICLES
During World War II, German bombers struck a British Merchant Navy ship called the SS
Thistlegorm, causing it to sink to the bottom of the Red Sea. The vessel had
been built just a year earlier, and had only completed three successful voyages.
Thistlegorm carried steel rails, aircraft parts, grain, rum, and other cargo throughout
her short-lived career. She traveled to the U.S., Argentina, and the West Indies. The vessel
departed Glasgow, Scotland for Alexandria Egypt in 1941, loaded with armored vehicles, motorcycles,
trucks, ammo, guns, radio equipment, aircraft and railway parts, and two train locomotives.
A crash in the Suez Canal stopped Thistlegorm from passing through,
so the ship docked at a safe anchorage off the Egyptian coast.
The Germans suspected that Allied troops were hiding on the vessel,
so they dispatched two bombers to find and destroy it. Two bombs struck the ship, causing some of
its ammunition cargo to explode. Nine people died as Thistlegorm sank to her watery grave.
French explorer Jacque Cousteau rediscovered the site during the 1950s. It was soon forgotten
about until the early 1990s, when the coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh opened it to divers.
The section that was blown off the 420-foot-long (128 meters) ship during the attack
created a convenient opening that visitors can use for easy access to the inside,
which still contains most of the cargo, including the vehicles.
9. THE LONGEST CREATURE EVER
Last year, a team of researchers encountered what they believe may
be the longest creature ever discovered while surveying the seafloor off western Australia.
Known as a siphonophore, they described it as an “enormous spiral floating in the water column.”
Scientists admitted that they didn’t know exactly how long the otherworldly organism is. They
estimated that its outer ring measured nearly 155 feet (47 meters) and said that they were in the
process of determining its entire length. At the time, the team believed that the siphonophore was
at least 390 feet (119 meters) long. They promised to update the world once they know for sure.
If their estimate is correct, the creature would surpass the lion’s mane jellyfish as
the world’s longest marine animal. The current record holder is 120 feet (36.5 meters) long.
The siphonophore also stands to supersede the 180-foot-long (55 meters) ribbon worm,
which is the world’s longest land animal.
Siphonophores are predatory deep-sea dwellers made up of small clones that work together as
one organism. They take on a rope-like appearance and resemble jellyfish,
but are more closely related to corals and anemones.
Lead researcher Nerida Wilson told CBC that the clones somehow communicate with one
another to harmoniously take on different roles, like feeding and reproduction.
Scientists admittedly know very little about siphonophores,
and don’t even know how they reach such enormous lengths.
8. SEVERED HANDS
While working in Russia’s Far East near the Chinese border in October 2018,
some fishermen found a sack containing 54
severed human hands, along with medical bandages and surgical shoe covers.
The alarmed gentlemen called the local police, who determined through fingerprints that the
hands belonged to at least 27 different people. In the meantime, rumors flew like wildfire,
with some speculating that the hands were cut off as a punishment for theft. Police theorized
that the severed appendages were amputated limbs from a medical facility that had been disposed of
improperly. But they were left scratching their heads when they realized that many of the people
the hands belonged to, had had both hands cut off. Usually, a person only needs one hand amputated.
It’s possible that the hands were cut off of corpses to retain fingerprint information after
burial – a practice that is reportedly somewhat common in Russia. But the story remains unclear.
The hands were not connected to any suspected criminal activity,
and the Russian government offered little explanation beyond stating that the limbs
came from a forensic lab and not to worry about it. They always say that!!
7. UNDERWATER JESUS
You may be surprised to learn that there are numerous submerged statues of Jesus Christ
throughout the world. One, known as the Christ of the Abyss, sits in the waters off San Fruttuoso,
Italy. Made by sculptor Guido Galletti, it was placed in the Mediterranean Sea in 1954
as a tribute to Dario Gonzatt, the first Italian to use scuba gear.
The bronze likeness sits 56 feet (17 meters) below the water’s surface.
Another famous underwater Jesus sculpture can be found off the Florida Keys in John
Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Dubbed the Christ of the Deep,
the 4,000-pound (1,814 kg) barnacle-covered statue was created by Guido Galetti, the same sculptor
who made the Christ of the Abyss in Italy. It was installed in the waters off Key Largo in 1965.
It’s the third of a series of Jesus statues that Galetti has placed underwater.
The second sculpture was placed along the coastline of St. George’s, Granada in 1961.
It was a gift to the navy of Genoa for their diligent efforts to rescue the crew of the
MV Bianca C., an Italian vessel that was destroyed in a fire.
Lake Michigan is home to the only underwater crucifix in the world.
Measuring 11 feet (3.4 meters) tall, it features a nearly life-sized figure of Jesus.
But it wasn’t created by Galletti, unlike the other Jesus statues. In 1955, a teenage boy
died in a car accident in the town of Bad Axe, Michigan. His grief-stricken family bought the
crucifix as a memorial to the teen. But it broke during shipping, so they refused to take it.
In 1962, a local diving club in Little Traverse Bay
gave the statue a home at the bottom of the lake in memory of a diver who died nearby.
6. ANCIENT CHICKEN EGG
While excavating a watery pit in Buckinghamshire, England in 2016, scientists discovered four
ancient chicken eggs. They only managed to retrieve one without breaking it. It was estimated
to be around 1,700 years old, making it the only complete egg dating back to Roman-era Britain.
The three eggs that broke released what the team later described as a “putrid stench.”
After sitting around for over a millennium, I can only imagine!
Archaeologists uncovered other rare artifacts, including leather shoes,
wooden tools, and a basket made from oak and willow.
People threw items into the pit for good luck from the third century onward.
It functioned as an ancient wishing well of sorts, according to senior
project manager Edward Biddulph, who spoke with the BBC. He speculated that the eggs
may have been a food offering that was thrown into the pit during a funeral.
5. APOLLO 11 ROCKET ENGINES
The 1969 Apollo 11 mission is famous for putting a man on the moon for the first time.
After launching on July 16 of that year, it deposited its Saturn V
F-1 rocket engines into the Atlantic Ocean.
Two of them were found in 2012 courtesy of a team from Bezos Expeditions, an exploration
company owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. They found the rocket engines using deep sea sonar,
then used remotely operated vehicles (ROV’s) to gain a closer look. The crew found a tangled and
timeworn mess of parts on the seafloor 14,000 feet (4,267 meters) below the water’s surface.
There was only one way to tell how intact the parts were:
by removing them from the water. In a statement, Bezos explained that the rocket engines had hit
the surface at high velocity before spending over 40 years in highly corrosive saltwater.
At the same time, he said, “they are made of tough stuff, so we’ll see.”
Because 67 Saturn V F-1 engines were launched between 1967 and 1973, the team had to verify
that the pair were actually from Apollo 11. They confirmed this several months
later by examining the parts’ extremely worn and barely detectable serial number.
4. MYSTIFYING BLOB
Several years ago, divers encountered a huge, unexplainable,
jelly-like orb off the western coast of Norway.
It measured over three feet (1 meter) wide and had a dark streak through the center.
Nearly 100 similar sightings have been reported near Norway and in the Mediterranean sea since
1985. And until recently, scientists were just as perplexed as anyone else when it
came to identifying the bizarre translucent blobs.
A DNA analysis finally put the mystery to rest last year, when researchers
identified the orbs as rarely-seen egg sacs belonging to the shortfin squid.
The species is common throughout the Mediterranean and the North Atlantic.
Each orb can hold hundreds or even thousands of eggs, which sit suspended in a slowly dissolving
mucus, according to a study. Scientists have known about the shortfin squid for over 180 years,
but this was the first time that they identified the species’ eggs in the wild.
They also observed squid embryos throughout four different stages of development
and watched the changes in the sac as the eggs matured.
The large orbs keep the creature’s eggs buoyant,
protecting the unborn young from predators along the seafloor.
3. A FOREST
Off the Alabama coast in the Gulf of Mexico, there’s a 60,000-year-old cypress forest that
once stood on dry land. The trees sprouted along the banks of a river at around the same time
ancient humans are believed to have started migrating out of Africa.
Sea levels rose, eventually engulfing the entire forest. It sat undisturbed until 2004,
when Hurricane Ivan disturbed the seabed, revealing its presence in modern-day Mobile Bay.
Last year, scientists announced that the trees contain materials that might be useful in the
development of certain lifesaving medicines. This realization came after divers retrieved
samples of the wood as part of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-funded
expedition. Divers found that the trees were remarkably well-preserved after spending
years buried in sediment that prevented oxygen from reaching them and causing them to decay.
Experts removed over 300 organisms from the wood, including a previously unknown species of shipworm
that produces over 100 types of bacteria. Many of the bacteria are new to science,
and are undergoing DNA analysis to determine their potential medical uses in cancer-fighting
and pain medications. According to an NOAA statement, in the past, at least one
shipworm species has shown promise as a possible antibiotic against parasitic worm infections.
The wood may also prove to be useful in paper products,
renewable fuel, chemicals, animal feed, and more.
2. VINTAGE BUGATTI
In 2009, a 1925 Bugatti Type 22 Brescia Roadster was found at the bottom of Lake Maggiore along the
border of Italy and Switzerland. After sitting underwater for 73 years, it was damaged and
heavily rusted. Despite this, the car sold at auction for around $400,000 (£294,000).
But how did it get to the lake bottom in the first place?
According to records, the car was registered to a French address when it ended up in Lake
Maggiore in 1935. Grand Prix driver René Dreyfus had reportedly lost it
to Swiss playboy Adalbert Bodé during a drunken poker game the previous year.
Adalbert allegedly tried to bring the car into Switzerland, but didn’t want to pay the
hefty import taxes it came with. So he told the authorities to do whatever they wanted with it,
and they supposedly handled the matter by rolling the car into Lake Maggiore.
This might sound crazy, but at the time, the vehicle wasn’t worth much. It was rediscovered
in 1967 by a diver named Ugo Pillon. Over 40 years later, a local dive club finally rescued
it with plans to sell it and put the proceeds toward a charity that combats youth violence.
Peter Mullin, who owns the Mullin Automotive Museum in California,
bought the Bugatti and put it on display there. He did not restore, it but instead left it “as
is,” placing it in an exhibit that recreates the feel of being at the bottom of a lake.
1. A STRIP CLUB
While researching off the Israeli coast several years ago,
marine biologist Gil Koplovits came across a submerged nightlife venue that was no longer
in business. He released perplexing images of the abandoned establishment in 2013.
Located in Eilat, the business originally opened as a restaurant called the Red Sea
Star. It was reportedly later repurposed as an erotic dancing venue – aka,
a strip club – called Nymphas Show Bar.
The building’s entrance is above water. Speaking with the Huffington Post,
Koplovitz explained that visitors crossed a 230-foot (70 meters) bridge and descended a
flight of stairs to get inside. He said he was unsure when the strip joint closed its doors.
Koplovitz snapped photos of the former club’s interior through the rusting venue’s glass
windows. The images show a stripper pole that functioned as a centerpiece.
It was once surrounded by tables and chairs that have since been removed.
Curiously, very little information is available online about the Nymphas Show Bar,
other than the details Koplovitz offered after conducting his own investigation.
It may have been the only underwater strip club that ever existed.
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