Golden object from the depths
Mysterious Pacific find puzzles researchers
September 9, 2023, 1:37 a.m
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There are a lot of things hidden several kilometers deep in the sea – and some things even researchers can’t explain straight away. The mysterious discovery of a “golden ball” is now puzzling. And it makes clear how little is actually known about the oceans.
US scientists have discovered a mysterious round object on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean off Alaska that no one knows what it is. The shiny gold object is over ten centimeters in diameter and has a small crack at the base. Marine researchers using a remotely operated survey vehicle discovered it on a rock in the Gulf of Alaska at a depth of 3,300 meters last week.
“As the cameras zoomed in, scientists wondered whether it might be a dead sponge, a coral, or the shell of an egg,” said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The find has since been referred to as a “golden ball” or “golden egg,” the authority continued. While online services speculated whether it could be an egg from aliens, the scientists recovered the object from the seabed to put it in the “We were able to recover the ‘golden ball’ and bring it onto the ship, but we are still unable to identify it,” NOAA said.
It is unclear whether it belongs to a known species, represents a new species or is an unknown life stage of an existing species, NOAA coordinator Sam Candio said. The only thing that is certain is that the find is of “biological origin”. The discovery shows “how little we know about our own planet and how much we still have to learn about our ocean (…),” he added.