Do we really know what is in our ocean? Despite covering 71% of the planet, only 5% of the ocean has been explored. Despite all of these technological advances, there is still so much more to learn and explore. It is difficult to predict what space and ocean exploration will look like in the future. Which brings me to ocean mysteries. Since so little of oceans have been explored. Below are 5 fascinating ocean mysteries for you to ponder.
1. The 1968 Submarine Disappearances
In 1968, the following submarines disappeared without a trace: USS Scorpion, a French submarine Minerve, the Israeli INS Dakar submarine, and K-129, a Soviet submarine. Two were in the Mediterranean Sea, one was in the Pacific Ocean, and one was lost in the Atlantic Ocean. One of the four submarines was never found. The other three were found but the cause of their loss remains a mystery. Was this a Cold War skirmish? Hard to say because unfortunately, there is no actual proof.
2. Mariana Trench
Mariana Trench, also called Marianas Trench, deep-sea trench in the floor of the western North Pacific Ocean, the deepest such trench known on Earth, located mostly east as well as south of the Mariana Islands. It is part of the western Pacific system of oceanic trenches coinciding with subduction zones. Mount Everest stands at 29,026 feet (8,848 m) above sea level, meaning the deepest part of the Mariana Trench is 7,044 feet (2,147 m) deeper than Everest is tall. Due to the depth, much of the trench remains unexplored. Unusual animals live in the trench such as the Dumbo Octopus. It will be interesting to see what the younger generation will find as technology advances.
3. The Mystery of Atlantis
How could we keep Atlantis off the list? Over the years people have speculated where Atlantis once stood. Atlantis was first described by the Greek philosopher Plato more than 2,000 years ago. According to Plato’s account, written around 360BC, Atlantis was a major sea power located in the Atlantic. The arrangement of Atlantis was concentric rings. They alternated water and land. The soil was perfect, the architecture was magnificent and the work of the engineers was successful. There was an extraordinary irrigation system. Atlantis had an organized military system as well as many kings. To all of those looking in from the outside, it seemed as if Atlantis was paradise. Theories of the location include the Minoan civilization on Crete and the neighboring island of Santorini or the Black Sea floods of around 5000BC – an event that may have also generated the flood stories which appeared in the Old Testament.
My favorite theory is the Eye of the Sahara (Richat Structure). Africa, prior to the Younger Dryas climate change, has pollen records from this area which show that a “green” state prevailed during most of the time between 14,500 to 5,000 years ago. Steppe vegetation expanded across the Sahara. The region was more likely to be a lower altitude due to plate tectonics raising the region later on. Also, the majority of Plato’s description matches this region. The Younger Dryas was a period of climatic change that probably led to Atlantis’s destruction. For more info click on this Youtube link.
4. The Bermuda Triangle
There is so much mystery surrounding the Bermuda Triangle. From missing ships and planes to time travel. The stories around the Bermuda triangle begins in the time of Christopher Columbus when he reportedly saw a flame of fire crashing into the sea in the triangle during his first voyage to the New World. In 1872, 1881 and 1921 three ships Mary Celeste, Ellen Austin and Carroll A. Deering were found drifting the sea without a single soul on board.
One of the most unnerving tales is that of the Witchcraft, a 23-foot luxury yacht, which disappeared on December 22, 1967. The coast guard received a call from the captain stating that his ship had hit something, but there was no substantial damage. Indicating help to be towed to the shore, the coast guard set off immediately, reaching witchcraft in as many as 19 minutes. The area indicating the location of the ship was completely deserted. The coast guard officials searched hundreds of square miles of the ocean over the next few days but were unsuccessful. Nothing of this ship has been ever found.
In regards to time travel, on March 24, 1975, this story would appear as a brief mention in the Deseret News newspaper, as part of a multi-issue series involving the Bermuda Triangle, this one titled “Other seas, other mysteries.” National Airlines 727, during its approach to Miami International Airport, disappeared without warning. It completely vanished from radar, and all radio communications ceased. A full 10 minutes later, the plane astonishingly reappeared in the exact same location it had been. Nothing had changed, and no one on board noticed anything strange at all. “By way of an explanation, one of the air control staff said to one of the pilots, ‘Man, for 10 minutes you just did not exist.’” – The Deseret News, March 24, 1975
5. Possible Giant Shark
In 2003, scientists decided to tag a 9 foot great white shark to study temperature changes in the ocean. Weirdly, several months later, the tag’s recording of the information was found on shore. When researchers looked at the tag’s information, they were stunned. About four months after the tag was put on, the shark seemed to have dove around 1,900 feet, which suggests it was attacked and eaten by something. Most likely a cannibal great white shark. The scientists claim their new research data matched all of the tracking information from the disappeared shark: The body temperature of these migrating great whites was the same, and the size of the cannibal great white shark, which they estimated to be at least 16 foot long and weigh over 2 tons, is the smallest size shark that could easily pull off the same speed and trajectory captured in the tracking device to eat the 9 foot great white shark.
Could it be a larger great white shark? The Guinness Book of World Records listed two great white sharks as the largest individuals: In the 1870s, a 10.9 m (36 ft) great white captured in southern Australian waters, near Port Fairy, and an 11.3 meters (37 ft) shark trapped in a herring weir in New Brunswick, Canada, in the 1930s. When a scientist re-examined the jaw of the Port Fairy Shark, they discovered it could have only been 17ft. Another large shark caught was off the coast of Cuba in 1945, which allegedly weighed 7,000 pounds (3,175 kg) and was 21 feet (6.4 m) in length. Majority of Great White sharks seen after the 1930s have ranged between 20 to 23 feet. So it seems a 20 foot long great white shark would not be out of the realm of possibilities either.
Photo by Johannes Plenio from Pexels
