Mysterious Golden Orb in Gulf of Alaska Baffles Scientists

The golden orb discovered by the NOAAPhoto byNOAA Seascape

Scientists aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research vessel, Okeanos Explorer, have stumbled upon a perplexing discovery on the ocean floor off the coast of Alaska.

A mysterious tannish-golden blob, roughly four inches in diameter, has left experts baffled. The astonishing find was made during NOAA's Seascape Alaska 5 expedition on August 30, as remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) were deployed to explore the deepwater habitats of the Pacific Ocean, nearly two miles beneath the surface.

Live-streaming their mission, scientists and viewers engaged in a playful yet speculative dialogue, speculating whether the object might be an egg casing, coral, or an encrusting sponge.

A small hole in the object, resembling an entry or exit point, added to the intrigue. Using careful precision, the ROV's suction attachment extracted the mysterious object from the seafloor and brought it to the surface for closer examination. Even after being scrutinized in the wet lab of the research vessel, scientists remain puzzled. But they were able to confirm its biological origin. Sam Candio, the expedition's coordinator, expressed the uniqueness of the discovery, emphasizing that they are unable to definitively classify it. The golden orb, discovered in a region unexplored by previous missions, highlights the importance of ocean exploration.

It could be an undiscovered species or a known species undergoing an unfamiliar life stage.

We often find things in the deep ocean that we haven’t seen before or don’t immediately recognize, because the deep ocean is vast and we’ve only been exploring what lives there over the past couple of centuries, unlike life on land- Jon Copley, Marine Biologist, University of Southampton

The Seascape Alaska 5 expedition, ongoing from August 23 to September 16, aims to deepen our understanding of the Gulf of Alaska, using advanced ROVs and sonar technology to explore depths ranging from 650 to 19,700 feet.

NOAA's mission seeks to fill knowledge gaps related to deep-sea coral, sponge habitats, fish habitats, chemosynthetic communities, and geohazards.