Emily Chan
Deep underwater off the coast of Alaska, scientists exploring the seafloor came across a strange glowing golden orb last year.
The object was about four inches in diameter and had a tannish-gold color. It was stuck to a rock covered with white sponges about two miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
The scientists had been using remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to map deepwater habitats near Alaska as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Seascape Alaska 5 expedition.
They used a gentle suction attachment on the ROV to bring the object to the surface for further study in their research vessel, the Okeanos Explorer.
Some of the researchers’ theories as to what the orb could be ranged from an egg casing from a mysterious species to coral and an encrusting sponge.
There was also a small hole in the object, which gave the impression that something had gone into or come out of it.
But even after examining it more closely, they still had no idea what it was. All they could figure out was that it was “biological in origin.”
“We’re going with egg because of the texture. It felt fleshy, and it doesn’t have any obvious anatomy. It has a hole in it that suggests something has come in or gone out. But it doesn’t look like any egg I’ve ever seen,” said Kerry Howell, a deep-sea ecologist from the University of Plymouth in the United Kingdom.
“If it is an egg, the really interesting question is whose egg is it. It’s quite big. That’s not a small fish egg. That’s a sizable thing.” It’s also odd that the “egg” was found by itself. Usually, eggs are laid in large groups.
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