If you ask me, the ocean is one big place to hide. There is a whole big lot we don’t know about that ocean of ours.
First and foremost, scientists have mapped more terrain on the surface of the Moon, Mars, and Venus than they have of Earth’s ocean floor. It is not that scientists don’t care. They do. But it is a lot more difficult to do the exploring, down there in the ocean. There are all sorts of things to consider, like “measuring gravity anomalies.” Believe you me, I have to measure my personal gravitational anomalies every morning. Otherwise, throughout the day, I am constantly bumping into things.
Back to that ocean. It is big. Our ocean is just one huge continuous ocean which we call different names in different places. Kind of like now, how everyone knows you a Clementine. But when you were in college, people called you Clem. And when you were a little kid, they would say, “Hey Little C.” Like that. Well, not really. It’s more of a geographical thing with the oceans.
That mass of water hides mountain ranges with more volcanoes than all those on land. There’s just so much of it. About 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water and 29% of Earth’s surface is land.
With that in mind, the ocean supports an incredible amount of diversity and many different ecosystems. That because the living space in the ocean is so much greater than the habitats of the land.
And all because of that, there are more major groups of living things in the sea than on land. The scientists classify these as “floaters, swimmers, and burrowers.” Personally, I’m a little leery of the burrowers. If somebody is burrowing, they might be hiding something, or someone, for all we know. At any rate, I’d steer clear if I were you.
One of the things I find most interesting is that some of the deep ecosystems exist without any input from the sun. These are whole, entire, networks of life down there, with no trace of the sun, whatsoever. Pitch dark, terribly cold, and way down there. We’ve seen some of the creatures from those places. They all have snaggly teeth and jutty jaws. These worry me too.
What I’m getting around to is this. We haven’t even explored most of it. And then stories like these come around.
There was a boat, called the Kaz II, that set sail in 2007 from Australia. It was manned by three people. The thing was mysteriously found drifting with the motor still running, a powered-on laptop, and a table completely set. And nothing on or in the boat showed any signs of foul play. Well, except for the missing crew. What happened to the men remains a mystery.
Or this. Scientists are forever “tagging” fish and sharks and whales, and such for study purposes. In 2003, scientists caught and tagged a 9-foot-long great white shark. Then, several months later, the tag from that biggy shark, the one recording the information was found on shore.
When researchers looked at the tag’s information, they were a little upended. About four months after the tag was put on, the shark seemed to have dove around 1,900 feet, which suggests it was drug down there, and then eaten by something. But what could eat a 9-foot great white? An even bigger water animal of some sort, is what the scientists say. I bet it was some sort of snaggle-tooth, deep-sea scoundrel, we don’t know about. One that burrows.
I just mention this because a lot of people are heading out to the beaches again, now. All clamoring together, amidst the COVID-19 crisis. I guess if they don’t fear that the virus will get them, they aren’t too worried about the sharks and killer whales either. Let alone the jutty-jawed one-eyed sea floaters.
The oceans aren’t the only mysteries in life.
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“The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.”
― Anais Nin
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“The world, even the smallest parts of it, is filled with things you don’t know.”
― Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
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“The more this guy talked, the more he sounded like a fortune cookie.”
― Kelly Creagh, Nevermore
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