The ocean is filled with a number of curiosities and it can be extremely difficult to narrow down exactly which ones are the strangest. With a large portion of our oceans that remain undiscovered it's also important to remember that these five strange things may not even be the strangest items that ocean could be hiding. The oceans make up over 140,000,000 mi.² and the vast majority of the Earth's surface. With over 71% of the earth covered in water and depths that can reach well over 12,000 feet on average, the oceans and what lies beneath the waves is truly a mystery. Here are the top five strangest things that we have found in our world's oceans:
The Antikythera Mechanism:
The Antikythera mechanism is heralded as one of the world's first computers. The device was found at a depth of 45 m in a shipwreck off of the Greek island of Antikythera. The wreck was originally recovered in the year 1900 and it would be two years before individuals would begin piecing the mechanism together to form the final wheel and function of the mechanism. There were over 82 fragments to reassemble and the study of these fragments was not published until the year 1974. The mystery surrounding the device is that it is far more events than any other technology discovered from the same time period.
It estimated that Greek astronomers would have created a device in second century BC and no other type of technology or materials of this kind have been recorded previously. The device and its construction would have relied on mathematics and astronomy employed by Greek astronomers. Inscriptions on the mechanism dated it about 87 BC and coins recovered on the wreck site were dated at 76 and 67 BC.
The basic function of the mechanism is a series of 30 bronze gears which were separated and reassembled in their fragments. The device works as a clockwork mechanism or a mechanical/astronomical clock. The gears offer extremely detailed work and the main gear available in the device has over 223 handcrafted teeth.
The same type of traditional clocks were not dated again by historians until the 14th century in Europe. Many have suggested that the mechanism is dated at around 205 BC going against the inscriptions found throughout the other belongings. Even still, this would place the creation of this mechanism far before any other recorded instance of the same technology by over 1000 years.
The fragments today are still studied and the ancient analog computer remains extremely advanced for its time period. A true mystery recovered in the ocean.
The Baltic Sea Anomaly:
The Baltic Sea anomaly was a 60 m circular rock found on the bottom of the Baltic Sea. The discovery was made by Peter Lindberg and Dennis Asberg a member of the oceanX diving team in the year 2011. The shape of the object is a 16 m circular rock and it appears to have a structure that includes a staircase as well as a dark entranceway. Many have speculated that this could be an alien craft, a geological formation or even a battleship gun turned. While there are opinions on almost every side of science, the object still remains a mystery.
The appearance of this object looks like a rough granite and it sits atop an 8 m pillar in the ocean at a depth of 90 m. There are several smaller objects that look similar to a runway located nearby. The object nearby to the object is a 300 m runway style leadup to the item. Sonar scans have been taken of the object at several different angles and there is an entranceway with a staircase that has been unexplored leading into the structure.
What makes the Baltic Sea anomaly even more interesting is samples recovered by divers. The main components of the item is Limonite and Goethite. Some suggest that these materials could not be formed by nature in such mass quantities but the materials found can be formed by nature on nodules which can regularly be found in sea beds.
After its discovery many people were very quick to point out that the shape of the object resembles spacecraft like the millennium falcon on the sonar image. While the object has yet to receive a full study, there is still plenty of speculation about this unique item.
One thing is for sure about it being a geological formation is that it is definitely out of place for the Baltic Sea. Volcanic rocks were found within the composition of the object and since there has been no recorded volcanic activity within the Baltic Sea, the mystery item is a true anomaly.
Lost city in the Gulf of Cambay:
Archaeologists were able to discover the remains of an ancient city back in year 2002 which essentially rewrote the history books on the nature of cities and human civilization. Marine scientists were able to recover archaeological evidence of a city in the Gulf of Cambay that was carbon dated to be well over 9000 years old. The settlement which was 2 miles wide and 5 miles long, is estimated to be one of the oldest remains on the subcontinent and perhaps one of the oldest cities ever created.
Oceanographers from India's national Institute of Ocean technology were able to discover these remains while conducting routine pollution studies. Over side scan sonar, they were just able to detect the structures that made up the city.
Carbon dating was completed on some of the debris that was hauled up from the site. Evidence of human remains as well as beads, sculptures and construction material were all inspected and some of these items have been placed in local museums. Some of the oldest pieces from the settlement have been dated at close to 9500 years old making this undersea city one of the oldest cities in the world.
The Harappan civilization is one of the oldest in the region dated at around 4000 years. This civilization would be over double the age of the earliest known settlement. So the first cities in Mesopotamia were founded during this time and these settlements would be a far departure from some of the ancient cities of Egypt and their pyramids/architecture.
The chronology of this settlement in the Gulf baffled archaeologists and essentially rewrote our view of the ancient world after its discovery. It was estimated that the city would have to have been abandoned during the last ice age in which the icecaps would've melted between 9 to 10,000 years ago. Exploring the area has remained quite difficult for archaeologists as the riptides and strong currents make recovery efforts very difficult. The site still remains quite a mystery to the scientific world making it a truly strange oddity found in the ocean.
The Yonaguni Monument:
There is a unique ruin found off the coast of Japan known as the Yonaguni island. This island features completely unique topography in the form of sunken formations. The rock formations can be found just off the coast of Yonaguni and towards the southern tip of the Ryukyu Islands in Japan.
The nature of these monuments has been hotly debated over the years and it's not known whether or not the stone formations are naturally made or modified artifacts. Preservation work or research has not been carried out on the formation and it still remains in its original condition. The monument is a popular diving site especially throughout the winter months as it holds a very large portion of hammerhead shark.
The area features relatively strong currents but it still remains a very popular attraction for divers making their way to the area. A group of scientists has been invented the formation but it's not known quite how they were assembled or deposited in the area. Several formations including spaced pillars, star shaped platform, L shaped platforms and a series of flat edges somewhat resemble that of a monolith. The monument is estimated to be at least 10,000 years old and it is likely that the entire formation was once above water giving the chance that it could have been assembled by man.
If these are indeed artificial structures they could be constructions of a lost continent in Japan that would be known as MU. As the structures date back tens of thousands of years, it's possible that the technology may not have been in place to move or assemble these stones in their formation at the time either.
The Yonaguni monument remains an absolute mystery and one of the greatest discoveries found in the oceans here.
The world’s largest waterfall
The world's largest waterfall is in fact not Victoria Falls but an undersea waterfall that can be found in the Denmark Strait. It is classified as being the highest underwater waterfall with water dropping over 11,000 feet into the straight. The different densities and masses caused by temperature difference causes the water to fall and the amount of water falling is up to 12 times more than the largest above see waterfall, Victoria Falls. As the oceans are beginning to warm, the flow of this undersea waterfall is also slowing as a result of changing water conditions. This waterfall could soon begin to slow further and eventually stop altogether. It's still going to be a long time before this occurs and it’s also quite a difficult phenomenon to view with the ocean currents around the area. In most cases the view of this waterfall is only available by sonar currently.
Consider some of these top strange discoveries that can be found in the ocean as part of our top 5 list!