The recent sighting of unidentified deep-sea “blue goo” creatures in the Caribbean has perplexed scientists. During the expedition’s live stream, team members speculated on what the gloopy globules could be, but no one could come up with a definitive answer.
Mysterious Creatures
On August 30, scientists with NOAA Ocean Exploration spotted many blue goo creatures while using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) near the seafloor around St. Croix, one of the United States Virgin Islands. The blue creatures were still on the ocean floor between 407 and 611 meters (1,335 and 2,005 feet) below the water’s surface.
As part of the NOAA’s (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) “Voyage to the Ridge 2022” exploration series, researchers have spent the last four months exploring various regions of the North Atlantic aboard the research vessel Okeanos Explorer. From there, they piloted the ROV.
Unexpected Footage
As with every other dive during these missions, NOAA live-streamed the footage for the enjoyment of deep-sea lovers worldwide.
Researchers noticed one of the mysterious blue animals during the live video and zoomed in to examine it, speculating on what it might be. Some viewers commented that it was probably either a soft coral or sponge and possibly even a tunicate, which are gelatinous marine invertebrates frequently called sea squirts.
The team proposed several possible nicknames, including “blue goo,” “bumpy blue stuff,” and “blue biomat.” However, the expedition members could only agree on what the odd creature was not. One researcher jokingly said, “I can tell you it is not a rock, but that is as far as I can go.”
Other Rare Sightings
The blue blob wasn’t the only unusual encounter on this excursion. Other exciting discoveries from the dive include the following:
- A greeneye fish (Chlorophthalmidae)
- Bamboo coral (Isididae)
- A hatchet fish (Sternoptychidae)
- A fossilized coral reef
- A beardfish (Polymixia)
- A glass sponge (Hexactinellida)
- A rarely observed sea urchin orgy
Future Plans
The team will now start the time-consuming process of attempting to identify the mysterious blue goo. During the live feed, the researchers stated that they would send videos and photos from the dive to coral and sponge specialists to see if they could identify the mysterious blobs.
This is no easy undertaking, as there are approximately 2,000 soft coral species, according to the World Register of Marine Species; roughly 3,000 tunicates species, according to the Smithsonian Ocean Institute; and around 8,500 sponge species, according to NOAA. The scientists stated that if experts cannot identify the deep water species, “the mystery will remain until a sample can be collected.”
The Voyage to the Ridge 2022 expedition allows scientists to explore and map the “poorly understood deepwater areas of the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone, Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and Azores Plateau”. “Voyage to the Ridge 2022 will seek to close some of these gaps and increase our understanding of the North Atlantic’s geological context and past and future geohazards, the diversity and distribution of coral and sponge communities, and how populations of deep-sea species are related across these regions and throughout the deepwater Atlantic basin,” NOAA stated.
The team believes this gooey mystery exemplifies what makes these excursions so exciting and vital for spectators and scientists. But, one researcher said, “there is always at least one thing that stuns you.” Similar reproductive mysteries persist in other parts of the ocean: scientists only confirmed in 2022 how European eels reproduce, after 2,500 years of speculation.
