Explorers sent a robot two miles under the ocean’s surface near Alaska to look for odd creatures, and unexpectedly struck gold. To be more specific, they found a golden blob, smooth and shiny with a perplexing hole in it, stuck to a rock on the seafloor. Was it coral. A sea sponge. An alien.
No, the explorers concluded. After more than two years of investigation, the U. S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said this week that researchers had identified it as a part of a deep-sea anemone.
The “golden orb,” as many newspapers and science magazines called it after it was found in 2023, perplexed researchers and enthusiasts of the deep sea around the world.
It was spotted on a three-week voyage that summer along Alaska’s southern coast by NOAA Ocean Exploration, a federal program that delves into unfamiliar seas. From a ship at the water’s surface, a team used a remotely operated diving vehicle to gather more than 300 samples of deep-sea creatures.
On the seventh dive, the robot was exploring underwater mountains when the scientists saw the golden object on a rock, glistening alongside white sea sponges. The scientists drove the robot closer. We are having trouble retrieving the article content.
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