Scientists have discovered a new bizarre underwater creature that looks like a pile of blue goo. The scientists, part of the NOAA’s Okeanos Explorer team, discovered the creature while exploring the Caribbean. The exploration detail is part of a much larger expedition called Voyage to the Ridge 2022. Scientists aren’t sure what the blue goo creature is yet, but we’ll hopefully know soon.
What exactly this “blue goo” creature is isn’t wholly clear. The scientists say the bizarre underwater creature could be a new type of soft coral or even a sponge or tunicate. They’ll need to acquire a sample before they can say for sure. This is just one of the new discoveries they’ve made, too.
The NOAA has been exploring the sea with Okeanos since May. During that time, they have discovered multiple previously unknown creatures, including some new types of octopuses. This new blue goo discovery is just the latest in a growing list of bizarre underwater creatures we’ve been finding. And this discovery just goes to show that there’s still a lot we don’t know about the ocean.
This isn’t surprising when you consider all the discoveries scientists continue to make. We’ve been studying zombie worms which live deep in the ocean and feed on the bones of dead whales and other underwater creatures. This bizarre underwater creature is just the cherry on top. Scientists also previously captured details of how dolphins hunt on video after strapping a camera to a dolphin’s head.
Of course, these small blue goo creatures appear much smaller than the massive 1.5-foot sea bugs that scientists previously discovered. Still, finding something mysterious like this bizarre underwater creature is definitely noteworthy. As the NOAA continues to explore the bottom of the ocean, perhaps we’ll discover even more creatures like this.
You can see a video of the new bizarre underwater creature in the NOAA’s archives.
More ocean coverage: MIT scientists built an underwater camera that doesn’t have batteries.
