Scientists identify mysterious ‘golden orb’ found in Gulf of Alaska in 2023

Key Points:

• NOAA's Seascape Alaska program discovered a mysterious golden orb more than two miles underwater in the Gulf of Alaska, which was later identified as dead cells forming the base of a large sea anemone.
• The orb, about 4 inches wide, was retrieved by a remotely operated vehicle from the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer during ongoing ocean mapping efforts, which aim to address the fact that 61% of U.S. waters off Alaska remain unmapped.
• Identification of the orb required extensive collaboration among experts in morphology, genetics, deep-sea biology, and bioinformatics from NOAA Fisheries and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
• The Seascape Alaska program also led to other significant discoveries, including a gas-emitting volcano-like structure in the Arctic Ocean, highlighting the program's role in advancing ocean exploration and supporting national interests like territorial claims and economic growth.
• NOAA emphasizes that continued deep ocean exploration, aided by advanced techniques such as DNA sequencing, is crucial to unlocking ocean mysteries and understanding the ocean's resources for environmental and security benefits.