25 Bizarre Discoveries In The Deep Sea | Unveiled XL

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25 Bizarre Discoveries in the Deep Sea</h4>

You might think that by now we should know our own planet pretty well. We’re part way through the twenty-first century, and humankind is a reasonably advanced species, after all. And yet, the truth is that the majority of Earth is still a mystery to us. The oceans are by far the largest environments we have, but they’re famously unexplored and underappreciated… and are therefore teeming with oddities and unknowns. 

This is Unveiled, and today we’re taking a closer look at 25 of the most bizarre discoveries ever made, in the deep sea.

Throughout this video, we’ll be getting to know some of the most incredible deep sea creatures; we’ll be exploring some of the most mysterious underwater locations; and we’ll be making sense of some of the strangest and most fascinating ocean phenomena. So, let’s get into it.

#25: Giant Squid

Squids, in general, offer up so much in terms of ocean oddity. But, most famously there’s the giant squid. As one of the largest invertebrates on Earth, it can measure up to 60 feet long. It has eight, sucker-lined arms, two extra tentacles, and its diet includes some whales, and even other squid. For centuries this enigmatic entity was so elusive that it was considered by some to be only a myth; a monster made up after centuries of perilous sailing on merciless waters. But modern sightings prove that the giant squid certainly is real, and it was first photographed in the wild in 2004.

#24: Several Other Types of Squid

It’s perhaps surprising, then, that there are arguably far stranger squid out there than even the giant. For one, there’s the colossal squid; a rarer and perhaps even larger specimen. On the other end of the scale, though, there’s the vampire squid; a small, deathly black creature that technically isn’t a squid at all. It has a pair of large, blue eyes and a frilly, reddish "cape" that envelops its body. And finally, there’s the glass squid; a small and eerily transparent animal, this time with large, black eyes, it can change shape and color at will.

#23: The Sea Pig

While some sea creatures are rare, the sea pig is abundant. And yet, most people will likely never see one in real life. They usually gather in massive colonies… but because they dwell so deep beneath the waves, they’re rarely spotted at (or near) the surface. As for what the sea pig actually is, well, it isn’t a pig. Instead, it’s a small, pink sea cucumber with multiple appendages that take on the appearance of legs. More technically known as Scotoplanes, they dwell along the abyssal plane - between 10 and 20 thousand feet below sea level - all across the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Antarctic oceans.

#22: The Bloop

Upon first hearing of “the bloop”, you might imagine it to merely be a pet name for the sea pig. But, actually, here’s where we take our first foray into deep sea phenomena. In short, the bloop is (or was) an ultra-low-frequency and extremely powerful underwater sound detected in the Pacific Ocean, and speculated to be of unknown origin. Clocked in the summer of 1997, by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (aka, NOAA), the bloop was at first believed to have come from some kind of animal. However, while the association between it and some kind of hidden ocean monster has never really gone away, modern analysis argues that the bloop was more likely generated by an ice calving event, probably in Antarctica. 

#21: The Yonaguni Monument

The legend of Atlantis is one of the best known stories (and most widely told) in the world. The gist being that a mysterious ancient race - the Atlanteans - were one day wiped out, possibly around 12,000 years ago, by a monster wave that submerged them forever. On the basis of the myth, modern humans have long been trying to find the ruins of Atlantis, under the sea. So far, no such luck, but the Yonaguni Monument certainly ranks as one of the most famous contenders to the crown. A series of straight, sharply angled rock formations found close to one of Japan’s most southerly islands, and around 50 miles east of Taiwan, it was discovered in 1986. Since then, some have claimed that the monument could be artificial and constructed by an ancient people, although the mainstream consensus is that Yonaguni is a natural product of ocean erosion. 

#20: Killer Worms

Not with a bang but with a slither, we return back to one of the strangest ocean creatures out there. It perhaps comes as no surprise that our waters should be stacked with variously snakey, slimy and wriggling invertebrates. However, some are more notable than others. Eunice aphroditois - or the bobbit worm - is an unassuming but lethal predator. To hunt, it buries itself in sand leaving only its antennae exposed. Those antennae then detect a passing prey, at which point the bobbit snaps out of the ground with tremendous and frightening speed and accuracy. A carnivore, a herbivore, and a decomposer, this worm will basically eat anything. And it has the power to regenerate itself, too, meaning that it’s exceptionally difficult to kill.

#19: Water Bears

Otherwise known as moss piglets, otherwise known as tardigrades. In truth, these unique microanimals aren’t only deep sea dwellers. Water bears have been found all over planet Earth, including in some of the most extreme environments. Whether it’s on the inside of volcanoes or on the underside of icebergs, though, these things are almost literally invincible. Experiments have shown that they can even survive (and relatively comfortably) in the vacuum of space. We’ve actually known about them for more than 250 years, with the first documented mention attributed to the German scientist, Johann August Ephraim Goeze, in 1773. Tardigrades can often be overlooked. But, nevertheless, they’re almost always near at hand, even in the deepest and most remote ocean realms.

#18: Blue Holes

So this one clearly starts at the surface level, but blue holes certainly descend down into the deep sea, to create unique, standalone ecosystems. From above, blue holes look as though they might’ve been drawn onto the waves, given the contrast between them and their surrounding waters. The dark and light effect is due to the water within being much deeper to the shallows around, with the deepest of all - Dragon Hole in the South China Sea - plunging almost 1,000 feet. These spectacular features were generally created during the rising and thawing of past ice ages, which variously brought different rock types together to enable their formation. However, today, they’re notably dangerous places, as well as beautiful, with hundreds of divers losing their lives while exploring blue holes.

#17: Underwater Crop Circles

Travel back to the mid-1990s, and regular crop circles were still something of a global phenomena. Strange, rounded shapes cut into fields with seemingly little explanation, they’ve forever been linked to the potential arrival of alien life. You can imagine, then, how intrigued the world was when news broke of underwater crop circles, with the first examples discovered close to Japan. Were these intricate circular patterns also the work of some oddly artistic extraterrestrials? Had alien life been hiding in the sea all along? Ultimately, though, it was bad news for alien hunters, as we now know that these apparent crop circles are actually created by male pufferfish as part of a days-long mating ritual to attract their puffer partners.

#16: Underwater Rivers

If you remember your water cycle from high school geography, you’ll probably be able to picture the rain collecting in rivers before rolling out into the vast expanse of the ocean. However, today we know that it’s not quite as simple as that. In a phenomenon discovered and confirmed relatively recently, we can now chart underwater (or undersea) rivers, sometimes for thousands of miles out into the big blue. The exact science behind them is still a little foggy, but researchers have found that they form due to variations in the salinity of ocean water. What’s especially bizarre is that some of these channels are so strong that they, in themselves, are now thought to be responsible for shaping some of the deepest caverns and canyons along the seafloor. In some cases, there are even undersea waterfalls to match.

#15: Dumbo Octopus

It’s been a while since we’ve encountered an unusual underwater creature, so how about the aptly named Dumbo octopus? Earning its moniker through its supposed resemblance to the flying elephant of Disney fame, this animal is actually quite small and pinkish - rather than large and gray, as per the character! Nevertheless, the link isn’t completely without merit, as the Dumbo octopus does have two fins projecting from either side of its body, that do (to a degree) look like the elephant’s oversized ears. As another resident of the deep sea’s abyssal plain, these creatures are actually found all over the world. They’re also the deepest known octopusses of all, however, and are thought to frequent beyond the abyss and into the even deeper hadal zone, as well.

#14: Goblin Shark

Sharks are scary, that much is true. But the goblin shark is perhaps just a little more frightening than most. A rare breed of deep sea shark, it’s a species that can be traced back at least 125 million years, comfortably to within the time of the dinosaurs. With a flat snout overhanging a ferocious-looking jaw filled with typically sharp teeth, it can be up to twenty feet long. Because it lives so far below the waves, it isn’t a shark that we, human beings, are ever likely to cross paths with, but it’s an intimidating sentinel along the seafloor. We should also feature the frilled shark right about now - a primitive-looking, deep sea species with a snake-like appearance and rows of needle teeth - if only to prove that sharks certainly do come in all shapes and sizes.

#13: Baltic Sea Anomaly

Now, underwater crop circles are one thing, and again they have more recently been explained away as simply a byproduct of pufferfish in mating season… but the Baltic Sea Anomaly takes us to another level of strange. This bizarre, circular, seeming structure was first discovered in 2011, when a treasure-hunting team from Sweden captured it using sonar technology. Unsurprisingly, when the image was first made public there were multiple claims that it showed a sunken UFO, potentially of alien origin. However, in the time since, conventional science has tended toward the seeming anomaly in fact being another natural rock formation - even if no one’s quite sure how it came to be this way, exactly. 

#12: City of Pavlopetri

Take one glance at any image of this place and you’d be forgiven for thinking that this really was the lost world of Atlantis. Unfortunately, it isn’t Atlantis… but Pavlopetri is a marvel in its own right. It’s an entire city submerged in the Mediterranean Sea, off of southern Greece, dating back to the Bronze Age more than 5,000 years ago. It was initially uncovered in 1967 by one Nicholas Flemming, but has since been extensively explored. There are whole streets and buildings intact here, as well as extensive evidence showing that Pavlopetri was once a thriving trade hub, with one-time links to the nearby Minoan civilization. A little more ominously, there have also been a number of tombs discovered here, although there aren’t yet any significant claims of accompanying ghosts.

#11: Footprints in Doggerland

The curiously named Doggerland was once a vast stretch of land that connected modern-day Britain to mainland Europe during the last Ice Age. However, as sea levels rose around 8,000 years ago, it was gradually submerged beneath what’s now the North Sea. For centuries, nothing much was thought about it… until, in recent years, archaeological surveys have revealed masses of evidence of a Stone Age settlement preserved along the ancient seafloor. As researchers have worked with oil and energy companies, in particular, items including tools, weapons, and bones have all been dredged up. There are even claimed discoveries of ancient trees and intricately preserved human footprints that could date back 50,000 years or more.  

#10: Interstellar Material

In January 2014, something exploded low in the sky over the Pacific Ocean, close to Papua New Guinea. At the time, as strange as it was, it was an event that didn’t make the headlines. However, in the years since, the incident has been made more and more famous, thanks to the insistence of Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb that the flash was actually a falling meteor of interstellar origin. A crash landed rock from beyond the solar system. In July 2023, Loeb further indicated that a team had successfully searched the crash site and had retrieved pieces of the rock in question. The claims have been contested but, if true, any fragment would represent the earliest confirmed instance of interstellar anything on Earth.

#9: Antikythera Mechanism

Unfortunately the seafloor is littered with shipwrecks, probably the most famous of which being that of the Titanic, which rests around 12,500 feet beneath the waves of the northern Atlantic. However, possibly the most famous artifact recovered from a lost ship is the Antikythera Mechanism, discovered in 1901, at a depth of just 148 feet, off the coast of the Greek island of Antikythera. The mechanism itself is the oldest known example of an analogue computer, thought to date back to the second century BCE. It was found lodged inside an ancient Roman wreck, but is today celebrated as a pioneering piece of smart machinery, thought to have been used long ago to predict the movement of the stars.

#8: Glowing Predators

Suffice to say, it’s dark at the bottom of the sea. But that doesn’t matter for the spookily bioluminescent barbeled dragonfish. This apex predator is equipped with a glowing lure that trails from its jaw, which it works to attract prey before swiftly killing it. And these kinds of tactics are actually demonstrated by various other species, as well, perhaps most notably with anglerfish. Anglerfish come in various shapes and types, but most are quite outwardly menacing, and are fitted with a variously dangling luminescent bulb extending out from their bodies.

#7: Gulper Eel

As we’ve seen throughout this video, evolution works in mysterious ways. But perhaps never more so than with the gulper (or pelican) eel. Quite simply, there is no other creature that looks quite like this one. The gulper has a long, thin body akin to most other eels until you get to its head. Here, this animal suddenly balloons out, with relatively huge jaws to shape a suddenly large and circular mouth lined with tiny teeth. If it were to be seen in passing, then you might well mistake the gulper for a lost frying pan or tennis racket. Although, in reality, these incredible creatures are very rarely seen. They live thousands of feet below, in some of the deepest regions of the sea.

#6: Tamu Massif

All of the world’s most famous volcanoes are certainly on land. And yet, in Tamu Massif, we have Earth’s largest volcano, by most measures, and it dwells entirely underwater. Undersea volcanoes - otherwise known as seamounts - are in general fairly common, but none are quite so dramatic as this one, which lies almost 1,000 miles east of Japan, beneath the Pacific Ocean. Tamu Massif is more than 14,000 feet tall; its peak reaches to around 6,500 feet below sea level; and it covers a total area of more than 200,000 square miles. It was discovered in the 1990s by the US marine geophysicist, William Sager, although it formed way back in the Jurassic era, some 140 million years ago. Somewhat thankfully, researchers believe that Tamu Massif is now extinct; it probably won’t ever erupt again.

#5: Amelia Earhart’s Plane

In recent times, the legend and mystery of Amelia Earhart took another (and potentially significant) twist. To recap, Earhart was a pioneering US aviator, who attempted to fly around the world in 1937, but tragically her flight was lost. She and her navigator, Fred Noonan, were never seen again, after last contact was made over the Pacific Ocean, close to Howland Island. In the decades since, there have been countless false alarms raised, and still nothing conclusive has been found. However, in January 2024, news broke of a potential sighting of Earhart’s downed plane. With fresh sonar images produced by the ocean exploration group, Deep Sea Vision, the new pictures show a plane-shaped something at the bottom of the sea, around 100 miles from Howland Island.

#4: Atolla jellyfish

For the last of our creature-specific discoveries, we’re getting up close to a deep sea jellyfish with a defense mechanism that’s quite unlike anything else. Otherwise known as the alarm jelly, the Atolla is another that makes use of bioluminescence. This time, though, it is known to emit flashing blue lights whenever a predator is close by, to create a bizarre effect similar to that made by a passing police car. What’s really clever, though, is that not only do these flashing lights seemingly dazzle and confuse whatever’s pursuing the Atolla, but they also serve to attract even larger predators. The larger predators then kill and eat the smaller ones, and our jellyfish gets off scot free.

#3: Origin of Life

Ultimately, in science a discovery doesn’t come much bigger than unearthing the final answer to the ultimate question; how did we get here? And the general consensus is that the answer to that begins in the deep sea, along certain specific and crucial points. In general, hydrothermal vents are underwater hot springs that release hot water and minerals into the ocean. They’re home to a variety of unique creatures, such as tube worms, limpets, and crabs. However, many scientists believe that it was in (or around) these vents, at the very bottom of the sea, that the emergence of life - a phenomenon known as abiogenesis - first took place, upwards of 3.8 billion years ago. As to the exact mechanisms that were in play, the debate still rages. But, if you want to see where everything began, then it’s these vents that supposedly hold the key.

#2: Plastic Bag

For all the magic of life on Earth, however, the modern human is increasingly aware of the challenges that face our planet - many of which reveal themselves within our waters. From oil spills to species displacement, deep sea mining to rising sea levels and bubbling temperatures, our oceans act as a measure of the wider condition of our world. There have been many iconic and affecting images taken over th years, including various of desperate polar bears clinging onto melting chunks of ice. But perhaps nothing encapsulated our situation better than the news in 2019 that a plastic bag had been found during the then-deepest sub dive ever achieved. The bag was reportedly found along the seafloor at Challenger Deep, the deepest part of the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth.

#1: The Unknown

OK, so by most measures the “unknown” can hardly qualify as a discovery in its own right. However, the fact is that as we’ve gradually gotten to know more about the deep sea, perhaps the most significant realization of all is that we probably still know very little about the very vast majority of it. According to NOAA, “more than eighty percent of our ocean is unmapped, unobserved, and unexplored”, while “scientists estimate that 91 percent of ocean species have yet to be classified”. No matter how many strange and unusual creatures we’ve covered in this video, then, it’s likely that there are many thousands, perhaps even millions more that remain undiscovered today. And it’s a similar story with all other aspects of ocean study. Locations, formations, artifacts, airplanes, shipwrecks and even sunken cities… there are countless more out there, still waiting to be found.