TOP 8 ocean mysteries from around the world

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

More than 70% of the Earth's surface is covered by the ocean. Until 2020, people managed to research only about 5% of them. Imagine what might be beyond our reach: depths that we have not yet encountered, or a lost megalodon from prehistoric times. It is also possible that the remains of a long-lost ship, or the lost city of Atlantis, await us there. Maybe something dark and dangerous, who knows?

While we wait for the experts to explore the unknown, below are a few mysteries to ponder.

8. Remains of a 19th century ship

On May 16, 2019, researchers aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Okeanos Explorer were in the Gulf of Mexico when a remotely controlled vehicle they were testing stumbled upon the remains of a 200-year-old sunken ship. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the ship was made of wood and covered with copper cladding, and its length should have been about 40 meters. However, at this moment more questions arose than answers. Archaeologists still do not know where the ship came from, how old it is, what happened to the crew and even what kind of ship it was.

The only clues found were the numbers on the steering wheel - 2109, as well as iron and copper objects scattered nearby. Burnt pieces of wood suggested the ship might have caught fire before sinking. After the discovery was made public, NOAA's Frank Cantelas said he hoped more expeditions would be deployed to uncover the mystery.

7. Secrets of the Black Sea

The Black Sea is both inhospitable and hospitable at the same time, and it is full of oddities and mysteries. As in the Bermuda Triangle, strange creatures, unexplained phenomena and strange disappearances have been observed in the Black Sea. In 2000, Robert Ballard announced the discovery in the Black Sea of evidence that a huge number of people had died in flooding caused by the sea. This discovery was associated with the story of the biblical flood, set out in the Book of Genesis, and, naturally, caused a lot of controversy.

In the Middle Ages, Turks and Russians reported that they saw eddies in the Black Sea that sucked ships and islands. These eddies supposedly appeared on calm water without any warning. As a result, fishermen began to avoid such places, considering them cursed. In December 1945, five Soviet bombers disappeared over the Black Sea, and after that no one saw them. In 1990, the Greek plane also disappeared. This led to the theory of the existence of a magnetic anomaly causing the electronics to malfunction.

It is said that in 1991, a Russian oil platform broke away from the dock and sailed into the Black Sea. The investigation revealed that all 80 workers were missing. Their abandoned belongings and uneaten food were the only evidence that they had ever been on the platform.

6. Namse Bangdzod

On December 27, 2018, Namse Bangdzod oil tanker with a displacement of 1950 tons with 11 crew members and a captain on board departed from Sampit, Central Kalimantan, to the port of Tanjung Priok in Jakarta. His arrival was expected the next day. However, on December 28, all contact with the vessel was lost in the waters of Ujung Karawang. Data from the ship was last tracked on January 3, 2019.

National Search and Rescue Agency Basarnas believes the tanker may have been hijacked by pirates. The navy disagreed, saying that the route the tanker took was considered quite safe, where a ransom was not needed. The Navy also claimed that the vessel changed position several times during its journey from Jakarta Bay to the port of Sunda Kelapa, but was not found anywhere.

Marine expert, Oloan Saut Gurning, said the accident was highly unlikely as there was no distress signal and the tanker could not drift out to sea as it would have been discovered by the fleet. The Basarnas were to continue their search in the ocean for 4 days, after which the police and the navy were to take over. To date, the tanker is listed as missing.

5. Island of Death

Koh Tao is an idyllic island located on the western shore of the Gulf of Thailand. Ko Tao means "island of turtles" and its coral reefs are inhabited by beautiful sea creatures, including turtles. There are many accommodation options for tourists on the budget or for those looking to indulge in luxury. This is a truly amazing place to stay … at least at first glance.

Behind its beauty and opulence lies dark and disturbing evidence of crime. Doubtful rumors about body parts floating in shallow water and that the island is controlled by the local mafia have come into the spotlight after a series of unexplained deaths. Now people are afraid to go to Koh Tao, or "the island of death" as it was dubbed, and not without reason. In 2012, Ben Harrington died here when his motorcycle crashed into an electric pole. At that moment he was alone at the wheel of a motorcycle, and his wallet and watch were never found after the accident. His mother believed he was the victim of a crime when a specially stretched wire was the cause, especially after the coroner reluctantly stated that the cause of death was "an accident."

In September 2014, two tourists, Hannah Witheridge and David Miller, were found murdered on the same beach where Ben Harrington rested before his death. It was later revealed that Hannah had been raped before the murder. Local police were unable to save the crime scene or trace the island's port. Instead, they focused on interrogating two Myanmar migrants, who were eventually found guilty and sentenced to death for the killings. However, police officers allegedly were unable to collect DNA samples and check the clothes of the victims. Two weeks after the murder, another body was found on the same beach: 24-year-old Luke Miller, lying at the bottom of a swimming pool.

Then 23-year-old Valentina Novozhenova disappeared from the hostel on Ko Tao, and no one saw her again. Six weeks later, the body of a young girl was found, but it was not Valentine. These were the remains of a Belgian tourist Elise Dallemagne, her body burned and wrapped in several T-shirts. In January 2015, 23-year-old Christina Marian Annesley was found dead in a bungalow on Tao Island. Her remains lay for several days before an autopsy was performed, with the result that the British coroner dismissed the results of the Thai experts, accusing them of incompetence. All these unexplained deaths led to rumors that a family of serial killers lived on the island, or that the local mafia was involved in the deaths.

4. Remains of a shipwrecked and cursed

HMS Wasp was built in 1880 for fishing and checking lighthouses. He also transported bailiffs who were supposed to carry out the evictions. The Wasp was very popular in Derry and often used the HMS Valiant at the port. On September 21, 1884, HMS Wasp was to sail for Moville to collect the bailiffs and other officers who were to evict the island of Innistrahull. The path was well known, and everyone was in high spirits. Unfortunately, tragedy struck shortly thereafter. At 3:45 am HMS Wasp crashed on the rocks off Tory Island. He sank within 30 minutes. As a result, 50 crew members died, and only six survived.

Subsequently, one of the survivors said that when Wasp approached Tory Island, he was sailing, and his boilers were turned off. He intended to sail between the Tory lighthouse and the mainland, instead of going around the island, which was safer. In addition, the survivor claimed that all the senior officers were fast asleep, leaving the junior officers in charge.

Nevertheless, most agreed that the shipwreck was very strange, especially since the ship crashed into the rocks right below the lighthouse. The water was calm and the weather was good. After the ship sank, Tory's lighthouse glowed brightly, but opinions were divided as to whether it burned as the ship approached it. Some believe that the lighthouse was deliberately turned off to prevent the bailiffs from being brought to the island. Others claim that the cursed Tory stone was aboard the ship, which ultimately led to the disaster. An investigation by the Admiralty has provided no clues as to what happened, and the death of HMS Wasp is shrouded in mystery.

3. Mysterious divers

Divers cannot avoid encountering the paranormal as they explore the depths of the ocean. They not only heard the sound of boat engines being launched when no boats were visible on the ocean surface above them, but they also heard strange grinding sounds coming from the engine room of the Japanese ship Hoki Maru, which sank in Truk Lagoon in 1944.

In 2007, a group of divers explored the ocean waters surrounding Grenada. Tired of sailing, the group returned to their ship to review each other's notes of what they saw below the surface of the ocean. One of the group asked if his comrades had seen another diver in a white shirt, who was waving at them. Alas, no one else saw this mysterious diver, and everyone involved was even counted to make sure no one was missing. Everyone was in place, and there were no other boats or ships in the area. The group never found out who the diver in the white shirt was.

In 2012, scuba instructors were diving in Santa Rosa, California when they spotted an unidentified diver with a pink balloon diving and swimming near a blue hole. They swam closer to check if the diver was in trouble, but before they got to the hole, the diver disappeared. The scuba instructors immediately notified the police, who in turn informed them that other divers had seen the figure at the blue hole, and then the mysterious diver disappeared.

2. Utsuro bune

A strange story that has long been a part of folklore tells of a strange boat washed ashore in Japan on February 22, 1803. Fishermen who saw the boat claimed that it was round, with windows at the top and metal stripes at the bottom. They boarded only to find a lone passenger sitting against a wall covered in strange writing. The passenger, a young red-haired woman, held a box in her lap and did not understand the language of the fishermen. She also refused to let go of the box.

The boat was named utsuro-bune / hollow ship, and then the fishermen decided that the woman may have been a princess who had the head of her dead lover in a box. Not knowing what to do with her, they sent the boat with the woman inside adrift. They had never seen glass windows and metal stripes like those on a boat, and so they eventually came to the conclusion that the woman might have been an alien.

Others did not believe in the aliens and believed that the red-haired woman was a spy from Russia. Nowadays, experts are of the opinion that the boat could have been covered with a canopy to improve its navigability, but there is no explanation or theories about who the woman could be, what was in her box, or what the writing on the walls of the boat meant.

1. Sea monsters

Sea monsters of all shapes and sizes have become the stuff of legends. It's hard not to feel awe at the mention of the Kraken, giant squid, or man-eating sharks. Stories of encounters with sea monsters have been around for hundreds of years. One of the most famous stories is of GH Hight and his companion, who went to Madagascar in 1889, only to be told by villagers about a huge green sea snake that attacked a fishing boat and ate one of the four fishermen in it. Then he chased three survivors all the way to the coast, and then disappeared into the sea again. Hight organized a group to find the unfortunate fishermen and saw a snake too. He and other people shot the animal, but to no avail. Naturally, there is no evidence to support this story, and the only account of it appeared in the Washington Herald in March 1909.

Another chilling story was published in Fate magazine in 1965. 16-year-old Edward Brian McCleary (Edward pian McCleary) in 1962 went with four friends on the high seas in the Gulf of Mexico. They were named Warren Felly, Eric Ruyle, Larry Bill and Brad Rice. McCleary returned home alone, exhausted and frightened. He told the police that a sea monster / dragon appeared in the water and attacked his friends and killed them. He described the monster as a creature with a neck about 4 m long, green scales and an elongated head resembling a turtle.

McCleary denied claims that he mistook the submarine for the monster and went on to say that the news outlets refuse to publish his story unless he omits the sea monster's story. Larry Bill's body was allegedly found (he drowned), but the other three boys were never found. Naturally, very few believed in the story of a sea creature rising from the depths to attack teenagers. What exactly happened on that fateful day remains a mystery.