The mysterious ocean threw up some pretty strange expiration on in 2023 , and while we falter acrossmystery orbsand strangepizza - boxwood - same John Rock , scientists were learning all sorts with the aid of remote - operated vehicle ( ROVs ) and * checks notes * seal scientists wear funky hats . One of the ocean ’s weirdest critters , thefootball Pisces , washed up on a beach in California , and we got some great footage of the much cuterdumbo octopusand peculiarbigfin squid .
Here are our rich ocean highlights for 2023 .
Giant Megalodon’s Serrated Tooth Found In The Deep Sea By An ROV
During an jaunt aboard Exploration Vessel ( E / V)Nautilus , a team of research worker execute the ROV Hercules stumbled across amegalodon ( Otodus megalodon ) toothat a deepness of around 3,090 meters ( 9,842 foot ) within the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument .
“Living Fossil” Among 15 Species Found At Newly Discovered Vents In The Galápagos
A gamey - temperature hydrothermal vent field of study was discovered in the Galápagos Marine Reserve . As well as being home to hot chimneys towering up to 15 beat ( 49 feet ) grandiloquent , scientist name a host of specie never spotted in the region before , include a“living dodo ” mollusk .
Trail Of Crabs Lures Scientists To Incredible Deep-Sea Discovery Off The Galápagos Islands
There were more hijinks in the Galápagos asnew deep - ocean coral reefswere uncover , and scientists were capable to track down a fresh hydrothermal vent field by following atrail of crustaceans . The dumpy lobster led them to the new theatre , which is larger than a association football sales talk and made up of five geyser - alike chimney and three blistering springs .
Seal Scientists Wearing Funky Hats Discover 2-Kilometer-Deep Canyon Under Antarctica
By fixing machine atop the heads of some very helpful southern elephant seal ( Mirounga leonina ) and Weddell seal ( Leptonychotes weddellii ) , researchers have been able to discover more about a hard - to - reach area in Vincennes Bay in Antarctica . The conjunct pinnipeds located ahuge underground canyonthat is guess to be 2 kilometers ( 1.3 mile ) mystifying and has been name the Mirounga - Nuyina Canyon in honor of the seals that discover it .
Some Deep-Sea Anglerfish Spend Their Whole Lives Swimming Upside Down
As deep - sea loony go , they do n’t get much more bizarre than anglerfish . But if their nightmarish looks and dangly bioluminescent bait are n’t enough for you , some species of anglerfish have another strange string to their prow : they spend theirwhole lives upside down .
Strange Deep Sea “Hoofprints” In New Zealand May Finally Have An Explanation
inscrutable hoofprintson the sea floor more than 450 meters ( 1,476 feet ) late in Aotearoa New Zealand ’s water supply have had scientists scratching their heads since 2013 . This yr , research worker at the country ’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research ( NIWA ) amount up with an explanation for the cryptic marking , which unfortunately does n’t affect a small underwater cavalry . The perpetrator , they think , are thick - ocean rattails , also know as grenade thrower ( Coelorinchus ) – some species of which have a pointed snout that looks suspiciously like the queer seafloor prints .
Deep-Sea Octagon Mystery Solved
Hoofprints were n’t the only foreign marks scientist found on the seafloor this year . Mysteriousoctagonsstamped across the seabed of the Fram Strait between Greenland and Svalbard had scientists grave their caput . Some were mini while others were big than a basketball game , but what was causing them ?
Remote - go vehicles ( ROV ) were able to get to the bottom of the rum mark , discovering that they appear to be the attestator Mark of Dumbo octopus feeding events . Though a different metal money to theGrimopteuthisin the television below , they ’re also known as dumbooctopusesfor theirear - like V .
New Species Of Alien-Like 20-Armed Antarctic Feather Star Found
The 20 - armed Antarctic strawberry mark feather champion , Promachocrinus fragarius , was one of four unexampled - to - skill species delineate in a paper that explored the cryptic diverseness of a genus of innocent - swimming acaulescent crinoid . depend a little like a face hugger that got a leggy upgrade , these alien - comparable organism are colligate to starfish , ocean cucumber vine , and other echinoderms .
Ocean Explorers Rediscover Long-Lost Japanese WWII Vessel Akagi 18,000 Feet Below Ocean
In a massive occasion for marine archaeology and existence chronicle , explorers aboard E / VNautilussuccessfully completed the first deep - water visual honkytonk to revisit theSecond World War ( WWII ) Imperial Japanese Navy watercraft , Akagi . Seen at a depth of 18,000 feet ( 5.5 kilometers ) below the surface of the sea , a Japanese and American - led expedition squad carry the first visual sight of the wreckage with a " heaviness of the heart like weeping that stream like pelting " since it sank to the dark ocean seafloor 81 years ago .
2023 might have been one underworld of a yr for the deep ocean , but 2024 is looking to be the year of space with someseriously cool missionsplanned .
