10 MOST AMAZING THINGS FOUND UNDERWATER
It's easy to lose things in the vast expanses of H2O on the planet, here are the 10 of the most amazing things found underwater.
It can be challenging to comprehend how deep and vast the seas and oceans are on planet Earth. Just think about that time you accidentally dropped your sunglasses into the river during a boose-cruise, the likelihood of you ever finding them is almost zero.
Imagine, now, that you're out on the ocean and you do the same, the chances of finding your favourite sunnies drops dramatically because the sea is so incredibly massive.
It's because of this, that finding anything in a large body of water is so intriguing, and why this list of 10 most amazing things found underwater is worth checking out.
10) Train Graveyard
Back in 1985, a chap by the name of Paul Hepler was mapping the ocean floor off the coast of New Jersey with a magnetometer when he uncovered a massive train graveyard. Nobody knows why they are there, five miles offshore, 90-feet under the surface. Most of the trains and their cars are Planet Class 2-2-2 T models, which are extremely rare. Some believe they were either knocked or dumped overboard while being shipped from Boston during a monster storm.
9) Underwater river
This is another of Mother Nature's incredible feats, a salt-water river flowing underneath the Black Sea. It sounds impossible, right? Well, there's a simple explanation; you see, the river runs from the Mediterranean sea (which is denser), through the Bosphorus Strait into the Black Sea (which is less dense).
The strong current from the Mediterranean pushes water under the lighter, less salty Black Sea to create the river. At 115-feet deep and over half a mile in some places, the river would be considered the sixth-largest in the world if it was on land, and it has its own rapids and waterfalls.
8) Gulf of Khambhat Cultural Complex
This ancient complex was discovered off the coast of India in 2001. It is thought to be the remains of a 9,500-year-old city, the most ancient ever found. It is believed that the Gulf of Khambhat Cultural Complex was once a bustling metropolis, with human remains, art, sculptures and furniture found on the site. Experts have theorised that this remarkable discovery was built by the Harappan people at the end of the last ice age, around 3,000BC.
7) The Antikythera Mechanism
In 1900, this ancient device was found near a shipwreck off the coast of Greece. For years, this device stumped experts, who couldn't figure out what it was used for. Eventually, it was discovered that the Antikythera Mechanism was a rudimentary device that was used to predict the movement of the stars and eclipses.
This may not seem that impressive until you realise it was built in 205BC. The technology for the time was astounding, with an intricate series of cogs and switches that tracked the movement of the planets in our solar system. It's basically a 3,000-year-old computer, but why this technology was forgotten for centuries remains unanswered to this day.
6) Lake Michigan Stonehenge
Not much is know about Lake Michigan Stonehenge, which was discovered in 2007 by an archaeological professor who was taking sonar reading of the bottom of the lake. He noticed an outcrop of stones 40-feet under the surface, which looked remarkably similar to those of Stonehenge in the UK.
Subsequent dives proved this to be the case, and they also found a boulder with a Mastodon – a cousin of the Wooly Mammoth that disappeared roughly around 10,000BC – carved into it. More research is being done to age the site correctly, but it would be a fascinating discovery if the Lake Michigan Stonehenge is really that old.
5) Baltic Sea Mystery Object
Sitting in 200-feet of water in the Baltic Sea, this 70-metre-long object has everyone puzzled. This giant grey disk is shrouded in mystery, with some suggesting it's an alien object from outer space. In fact, the first people to discover it reported that their instruments stopped working as they got near it.
Others have said that it is just the deposit left behind by an ancient glacier and that it's only a natural formation after testing pieces broken off from it, but some speculate it's actually man-made. Either way, only time will tell what the Baltic Sea Mystery Object really is.
4) Alexandria's Underwater City
The Mediterranian Sea swallowed up the ancient city of Alexandria over 16,000 years ago. It is believed that after the city fell, a combination of earthquakes and natural disasters saw the city submerge below the surface, to be lost in time.
But, in 1998, researchers rediscovered the ancient city, including Cleopatra's palace still intact. They also found many other artefacts, including kilns and vases, intricate columns, statues and the huge lighthouse that overlooked the city.
3) Burial place of Matthew the Apostle
May believe the burial place of Matthew the Apostle is in Lake Issyk-Kul in Kurdistan. Researchers discovered over 200 artefacts and ruins, over 90-feet below the surface of the lake, attributing them to the long lost civilisation of Saka.
The site is around 2,500-years-old, and clues suggest an Armenian monastery stood there, after a pot bearing Armenian and Syrian script was discovered. This is an important discovery as it corroborates ancient texts that describe this as the spot that this apostle of Jesus was buried there.
2) Blackbeard's cannons
The renown pirate is said to have buried treasure in numerous places during his reign of terror, although nobody has ever found any of it. What has been discovered though, are the cannons used in his ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge.
In 1718, he was attacked by enemy forces off the coast of Charleston Harbour. He eventually crashed and sunk his ship, which was one of the most dangerous ships in existence at the time, with a compliment of 30 cannons.
The ship lay on the ocean floor until it was recovered in 1996. It contained many rare and valuable artefacts, including his cannons. Many of the cannons, created between 1640 and 1714, weighed over 3,000 pounds and fired cannonballs weighing six pounds. In fact, six of them were still loaded at the time of their discovery.
It is one of the most valuable maritime finds of all time.
1) Underwater Sculpture Park
Off the coast of Grenada sits the Moliniere Underwater Sculpture Park, but this is no ancient relic. Rather, it's a collection of ecological, contemporary art by British sculptor, Jason deCaires Taylor.
It was created in 2006 in the waters of the Caribbean sea, to engage local people with the underwater environment surrounding them. The sculptures consist of manly human figures, either solitary or holding hands in a ring, facing into the ocean currents.
The park is also there to relieve pressure and add support to the natural reefs in the area and is made of a special mixture of concrete to encourage coral growth on the 65 sculptures. The site is accessible from port St Georges, and the sculptures are at a variety of depths up to 12-metres, which makes it perfect for snorkelling and diving tours.
As this is an exercise in conservation, Wikipedia tells us the following; "The coral reef around Grenada suffered damage from Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and Emily in 2005. It has been recorded that only 10–15% of the seabed has a substratum solid enough for natural reefs to grow upon and it can take between 10 and 80 years for hard coral to develop. While it is predicted that up to 60% of natural coral reefs may be depleted by 2050.
"The sculptures have been designed to promote coral growth using techniques to reduce the pH of the cement and by applying a textured surface. This encourages coral polyps to attach onto the surface and eventually the structure becomes a sanctuary for small marine life. Over time coral will change their appearance and the tides will enhance the texture applied, bringing with it new inhabitants. Already Taylor's sculptures are a home to an array of aquatic life: including, flounders, parrot fish, Branded coral shrimp and fire worms."
So, there you have it, 10 most amazing things found underwater. It just goes to show, maybe you'll find your sunglases in that river after all...