The "golden orb" retrieved from the Gulf of Alaska seafloor during a 2023 Seascape Alaska research cruise is seen in the lab of the Smithsonian Institution. The orb has now been idenfied as a lump of dead cells left by a sea anemone. It is now part of the Smithsonian's collection, along with other biological samples collected during by expeditions aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer. (Photo provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service)
When a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research project discovered a mysterious object more than two miles underwater in the Gulf of Alaska, scientists were puzzled.
Three years later, NOAA officials can now reveal what the object is: the dead cells that formed the base of a big sea anemone.
Scientists found the orb in deep water west of Prince of Wales Island during an ongoing research program called Seascape Alaska. The program began in 2021 and remains ongoing; it is being carried out to fulfil a national ocean-mapping strategy issued in 2020.
There is a pressing need for such research, according to NOAA. Even today, 61% of the U.S. waters off Alaska remain unmapped, according to the agency.
Accurate mapping is also needed to delineate ocean territorial claims, according to NOAA. Work done through the Seascape Alaska program was used by the U.S. State Department in its 2023 claim to extended continental shelf territory in the High Arctic and Bering Sea.
The puzzling golden orb, which was stuck to a rock, was retrieved by a remotely operated vehicle launched from the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, the primary vessel being used in the Seascape Alaska program.
At the time, scientists speculated that it might be an egg case or a dead marine sponge.
The process of identifying it turned out to be prolonged, and it involved scientists from NOAA Fisheries and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
The size and fate of the sea anemone that left the orb is yet unknown, said Emily Crum, a spokesperson for NOAA Ocean Exploration.
The orb is about 4 inches wide, she said by email. The sea anemone species associated with it can grow to large sizes, with tentacles stretching up to 7 feet, she said.
The golden orb was not the only unusual discovery made on the seafloor off Alaska.
In 2024, scientists working aboard the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaking cutter Healy discovered a gas-emitting volcano-like structure rising 500 meters from the seafloor in the Arctic Ocean.
That discovery was also part of the Seascape Alaska program, Crum said.
As the program continues, scientists expect to find more unusual items.
“So often in deep ocean exploration, we find these captivating mysteries, like the ‘golden orb’. With advanced techniques like DNA sequencing, we are able to solve more and more of them,” Capt. William Mowitt, acting director of NOAA Ocean Exploration, said in the NOAA statement. “This is why we keep exploring — to unlock the secrets of the deep and better understand how the ocean and its resources can drive economic growth, strengthen our national security, and sustain our planet.”
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Courtesy of Alaska Beacon
