What Is The Mysterious Golden ‘Egg’ Found On The Ocean Floor In The Gulf Of Alaska?
Eddie Gonzales Jr. – MessageToEagle.com – The science team on board the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer has discovered a curious golden “egg” on the Alaskan seafloor, but nobody knows what it is.
The discovery was made using remotely operated vehicles to dive on a small seamount in the Gulf of Alaska. “While gliding over a rocky outcrop at a depth of about 3,300 meters (2 miles), they found what one of the videographers onboard helping to document the dive first referred to as a “yellow hat.”
This unidentified specimen, seen in situ on a rocky outcropping at a depth of about 3,300 meters (2 miles), was seen on August 30, 2023, during Dive 07 of the Seascape Alaska 5: Gulf of Alaska Remotely Operated Vehicle Exploration and Mapping expedition. Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, Seascape Alaska
Amid a smattering of white sponges, this smooth, gold, dome-shaped specimen, a little over 10 centimeters (4 inches) in diameter, was tightly adhered to a rock. A small hole or tear near its base revealed a similarly colored interior. As cameras zoomed in, scientists were stumped as to its identification, with initial thoughts ranging from a dead sponge attachment, to coral, to an egg casing,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said in a press statement.
It is over 10 centimeters (4 inches) in diameter and had a small tear near its base.
Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, Seascape Alaska
“While we were able to collect the ‘golden orb’ and bring it onto the ship, we still are not able to identify it beyond the fact that it is biological in origin. We likely won’t learn more until we are able to get it into a laboratory setting where we can continue to pull from the collective expertise of the scientific community with more sophisticated tools than we are able to maintain on the ship.
Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, Seascape Alaska
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,” Sam Candio, an NOAA Ocean Exploration co-ordinator said.
It remains unclear if the golden dome is associated with a known species, a new species, or represents an unknown life stage of an existing one, according to Candio.
“Isn’t the deep sea so delightfully strange?” Candio wondered.
Written by Eddie Gonzales Jr. – MessageToEagle.com Staff
