The world is made up of 75 percent water, and with its spectacular vastness, it is no surprise how many bizarre and mysterious things can be recovered hundreds of meters below the sea surface. Some of these include sunken pirate ships (and their enormous treasures!), unidentified foreign objects which may possibly have an extraterrestrial origin, a 1925 Brescia Type-22 Roadster recovered from the Lake Maggiore in Switzerland, and an Antikythera which is a complex gear mechanism considered as the first-ever analog computer originating way back from Greek civilization. Discover more about these in this list of 10 Weird Things Recovered from the Bottom of the Sea!
10 – Pirate Ships
One of the most common things recovered from the bottom of the Sea is sunken pirate ships. Unlike ordinary sea vessels, these ships are much more bizarre with their armaments and even stolen treasures. Throughout history, several pirate ships have been recovered. One of the most famous is the Blackbeard’s pirate ship which sunk off the coast of Beaufort in 1718 after being stranded in the waters. From it, almost twenty various cannons were recovered in 2013. These artifacts are then transferred to the Department of Cultural Resources in North Carolina.
9 – Yonaguni Monument
Off the coast of Japan, a bizarre and mysterious monument was recovered at the bottom of the Sea. The gigantic ancient construction is known as the Yonaguni Monument, located at the waters in Yonaguni Island in Japan. The structure is characterized as extremely massive (490 x 130 x 90 feet), with almost perfectly flat surfaces and straight geometric edges. The debate is still ongoing on whether the formation is man-made, natural, or both.
8 – Lazarus Fish
Technically known as Coelacanth, this Lazarus fish is supposedly known as to have gone extinct 65 million years ago – until one surfaced off the coast in Africa in 1938 and another in Indonesia recently. This Jurassic-era marine animal was first discovered by a marine biologist when it accidentally hooked into a local fisherman’s catch. Because of its long separation and isolation from its species, biologists found out that it has a distinct genetic composition than its original species.
7 – Roadster
Treasures at the bottom of the Sea come in different types, and finding a roadster is not an exception. In July 2009, a 1925 Brescia Type-22 Roadster was recovered from the Lake Maggiore in Switzerland. It is said that the roadster was dumped into the lake since 1936 after Swiss customs officials threw it as junk. In 2010, it was sold at an auction for a whopping price of $367,741. When it was pulled out from the waters, its tires still have air!
6 – Jurassic Microbes
Finding different types of microbes at the bottom of the Sea is not entirely surprising, but finding microbes from the Jurassic era is worth something! In 2012, these Jurassic microbes were found hundreds of meters below the water surface. According to scientists, these microbes had been existing for 86 million years ago! They were found out to be “barely” alive because of lack of food to consume and lack of oxygen to sustain their metabolism. These microbes were named as the oldest living organisms on the planet.
5 – Lost Silver
Recently, almost 61 tons of silver were recovered from Britain’s SS Gairsoppa, a cargo vessel that sank in 1941 at the Atlantic Ocean after it was attacked by the Nazis. With a net worth of $36 million, it currently holds the world record for the largest treasure discovered in a single location. And these are not even the complete number of silver bars inside the sunken ship because it is believed that it actually holds a total of 240 tons of silver bars and only 20 percent of it has been recovered.
4 – Gigant Squid
The giant squid was recovered more than 2,000 meters below water surface off the Ogasawara Islands in 2006. It was the first time that a living specimen of this species was ever observed. After it was taken, and later died, it was transferred to the Museum of New Zealand. It has eyes the size of footballs, and its tentacles have enormous hooks all over. All in all, this giant squid measured almost 24 feet in length. Although, it is said that a living adult of this species measures for nearly 40 feet.
3 – UFO
Recently, a Swedish research team was looking for shipwrecks when it found a mysterious circular formation at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. The bizarre round object measures almost 60 feet in diameter. When the scientists found it, it appears that there are even tracks left behind the scraped seabed where it swerved just like a crashing UFO. The Lindberg research team is still conducting a further expedition to find out whether the formation is of extraterrestrial origin or only a rock formation.
2 – Ancient Computer from Greece
Probably the best thing ever recovered in modern history is the Antikythera gear in 1900. It is a complex gear mechanism which is considered as the first-ever analog computer which dates way back from Greek civilization. However, its primary use is still unknown or how it worked. The only thing sure is that it is used arithmetic progression cycles that looks like a very unique clockwork machine. It has 30 complicated bronze gear wheels that are supposedly used to predict lunar and solar eclipses.
1 – An Ancient City
Not only scattered and random things are found at the bottom of the Sea, but an ancient city can also be pulled out from hundreds of meters below the water surface. This ancient city, which was recovered off the coast of Egypt in 2000, was the city of Thonis known as the Heracleion during ancient Greece. Although some of its amazing structures have already been pulled out, it is believed that it cannot be excavated completely.
