A mysterious deep-sea creature that no human has EVER seen may have laid the ‘golden egg’ that was discovered on the sea bed two miles underwater off the coast of Alaska, experts claim
Marine scientists have been puzzling over the identity of the bizarre gold object recovered from the ocean floor off the coast of Alaska.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the shiny object feels delicate, just like skin tissue.
It could be egg intestines or the remains of a sea sponge, but DNA testing in the lab can reveal an entirely new animal completely unknown to science.
NOAA experts likened it to something “out of a horror movie,” referring to a scene in “Alien” where John Hurt’s character discovers the “facehugger” on another planet.
Dr. Tammy Horton of the National Oceanography Center in Southampton couldn’t say what the mysterious object is, but agreed that it is “potentially a new species.”
NOAA deployed a remote-controlled arm to “tickle” the object and remove it from the rock. It was then sucked up with a tube to take it back to shore
“It’s not unusual to find unknown things in the deep sea – we have a lot to discover,” she told MailOnline.
“They have a sample and can study it more closely and will probably do some genetic analysis to at least determine what kind of animal it came from.”
Remarkably, the object was found with a gaping hole in the front, suggesting that something emerged from it.
“It could indeed be some kind of egg carton (which explains the ‘exit hole’),” Dr Horton said.
Dr. Lucy Woodall, an associate professor of marine conservation at the University of Exeter, agrees that it resembles a sponge: an immobile aquatic invertebrate that looks a lot like coral.
“The hole is probably just damage accumulated over time, but it could also provide a whole new insight into how deep sea life survives and thrives,” she told MailOnline.
“However, the deep sea is full of wonders that we are only just discovering.
“I look forward to learning more about it from the taxonomists who will be working on the collected specimen.”
Kerry Howell, a professor of deep-sea ecology at the University of Plymouth, said the object is “weird” and unlike anything she’s ever encountered.
“In 20 years of exploring the deep sea, I’ve never seen anything like it,” she told MailOnline.
“It’s always exciting to see new things and I eagerly await the analysis of the sample to understand what it actually is.
An egg, the remains of a sponge, or something else? The mysterious golden object with a hole in it was discovered on the seabed off the coast of Alaska
It could be egg intestines or the remains of a sea sponge, but DNA testing in the lab could reveal an entirely new animal completely unknown to science.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the shiny object feels delicate, just like skin tissue.
“There are still many undiscovered species in the deep sea, so this could be linked to a new species quite easily.”
Professor Howell also said the hole could be where the creature breathes in and out if it’s a sponge, or where the animal came out if it’s an egg gut.
Dr. Pierre Josso, a postdoctoral researcher at the British Geological Survey, said the object is “intriguing, but not really surprising.”
“During most dives, we discover new biological structures or species because the seabed has rarely been explored,” he told MailOnline.
“New species – or remnants of developmental stages of known and unknown species – have been increasingly cataloged over the past decade as the deep ocean is explored with more attention than ever before.
‘As far as the origin, function and reason for a hole in the structure are concerned, it is still too early to make any statements about that.’
While the ‘golden’ appearance is striking, it’s mainly due to the shine from the headlights of the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) it was used to extract from the rock, Dr Josso added.
A later photo of the object in the lab after it was brought to shore shows that it has a light brownish-yellow color, which is “close to many other organic hues,” he said.
Since up to two-thirds of life in the deep oceans is believed to be unknown to science, this could represent an exciting new discovery
NOAA experts compared it to something “out of a horror movie,” referring to a scene in Ridley Scott’s “Alien” (1979) in which John Hurt’s character discovers the “facehugger” on another planet (pictured)
Murray Roberts, a professor of marine biology at the University of Edinburgh, agreed with NOAA scientists that it could be an egg carton.
“Several species, including vulnerable deep-sea fish such as sharks and rays, lay their egg cases on seamounts or in cold-water coral habitats,” he told MailOnline.
Hence the hole. Something came out and swam away.’
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Natural History Museum in London said: “Our experts have said that there are many new species of deep-sea benthic sponge in the deep sea.”
The “golden egg” was found on day eight of NOAA’s Seascape Alaska 5 expedition, which runs from Aug. 23 to Sept. 16.
Fans who want to witness similar remarkable discoveries can follow the progress of the mission on a special web page on the NOAA website.
From tulip-shaped sea sponges to ‘sticky squirrels’: Museum of Natural History scientists discover 39 potential new species living on the ocean floor
Scientists discovered 39 species that are “potentially new to science” while exploring underwater to depths of 5,100 meters.
A robot was sent to the abyssal plains of the Central Pacific’s Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) — one of the least explored areas in the world — to collect specimens of deep-sea animals.
The researchers at the Natural History Museum in London have discovered 39 brand new species of megafauna and nine known species.
Gummy squirrel, or Psychropotes longicauda, at 5,100 m depth on abyssal sediments in the western CCZ. This animal is ~60 cm long (including tail), with red feeding palps (or ‘lips’) visibly protruding from the anterior end (right)
Among the animals found were spindly starfish, tulip-shaped sea sponges, spiny urchins and “gummy squirrel” sea cucumbers.
The gummy squirrel gets its name from its perky tail that rises behind it as it moves through the water.
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