The Deep Ocean Holds Many Mysteries
When some strange ocean creature becomes washed up on the shore, it seems always to whet people’s appetites for mystery. As Oceanographer, Paul Snelgrove said “We know more about the surface of the Moon and about Mars than we do about [the deep sea floor], despite the fact that we have yet to extract a gram of food, a breath of oxygen or a drop of water from those bodies.” The deep ocean is probably the one place left on our planet that is truly unexplored. Even in the modern era, there are reports about supposed unidentified creatures that wash up on the shore. For example, a “fanged, faceless sea creature” was found on a beach after Hurricane Harvey in 2017 [ref] http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41256922 [/ref]. Eel specialist Dr Kenneth Tighe, believed it was a fangtooth snake-eel. Other scientists believe it was a tusky eel or stippled spoon-nose eel[ref] https://www.livescience.com/60419-hurricane-harvey-washes-mystery-eel-ashore.html [/ref]. All three eel species normally live at a depth of greater than 30 meters in the gulf waters, so it would be rare that any could be easily identified by a non-specialist. What’s more, anything washed up on shore is pretty much already in an advanced state of decay which makes… Continue reading
