THREAD: Ocean Mysteries
The ocean is full of mysteries. Those large bodies of water are home to an infinite number of strange creatures and bewildering phenomena. The average ocean depth is 14,000 feet deep, which leaves a lot of room for the mysterious, the mythical, and everything in between.
“The ocean is 95% unexplored, unknown, unseen by human eyes,” says Fred Gorell. “Every time we go off on an expedition, we see something new, or something believed to be new.” Here are some of the stories of the ocean’s greatest mysteries.
1. The four submarine disappearances of 1968. It was a bad year for submarines. In 1968, four separate submarines from different countries completely vanished. There was the USS Scorpion (US), the INS Darak (Israel), the Minerve (France), and the K-129 (Soviet Union). Theories
around the unrelated disappearances vary, from accidental torpedo self-firing to attacks kept under wraps by the government. All four missing subs still have no explanation, and considering how deep the potential remains could have sunk, an explanation might never arrive.
2. A cannibal shark in Australia. Possibly the only thing scarier than a shark is a cannibal shark. After scientists recovered a tag that had been tracking a nine-foot great white, they discovered something surprising. The shark had suddenly dove 1,903 feet, the temperature on
the tag going from 46°F to 78°F. The only way the temperature could change that swiftly is if the shark had been eaten by something larger. It’s not entirely uncommon for a shark to eat another shark, though the instances surrounding this great white are still murky.
3. The “Atlantis of Japan.” The lost city of Atlantis is a favorite among mystery buffs and conspiracy theorists. Japan might have a similar story of it’s own. In 1986, a local diver from an island south of Japan discovered a large section of underwater formations. The
structures look like castle ruins, five temples, a stadium, and a triumphal arch. Some believe they are ruins of an ancient city, buried by a powerful earthquake. Others call the structures natural and a classic case of “basic geology,” because of the way sandstone breaks.
4. The milky sea phenomenon. Sailors of yore used to tell tales of suddenly encountering “pale, milky, glowing waters.” As it turns out, it wasn’t just a fisherman’s tale. In 1995, a British merchant vessel documented that the sea looked “milky-white.” Modern scientists have
discovered that luminous bacteria or bioluminescent dinoflagellates are the source of the glow, though it was all still theoretical at the time in 2005. A follow-up study concluded that the bacteria glows to attract fish, so it can be ingested and live inside of it. The bacteria
gathers in trillions, but scientists still don’t know what caused “such a massive bacteria population explosion.” “There are still far more questions than answers surrounding milky seas,” the study says. We have gained a new sense for how much we truly do not know about Earth.
5. The Bermuda Triangle. After numerous disappearances, the Bermuda triangle has cut quite a name for itself in the world of mysteries and conspiracy theories. Major tragedies began in 1918, when the US Navy ship USS Cyclops disappeared in the stretch of Atlantic Ocean, bounded
by Miami, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico. No S.O.S. distress call was sent before the ship and it’s crew of 300 vanished into the great unknown. In 1945, five Navy bombers got lost flying over the region, compasses failing to work. They eventually lost fuel and had to land in the sea.
When a rescue plane was sent to find the bombers, it disappeared along with the men in the bombers. Theories about the disappearances range from supernatural to scientific; going from alien abductions to magnetic forces and gas hydrates.
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