- [Narrator] There are mysteries
in the deep, dark waters of planet Earth than we realize. After all, we know more
about the outer reaches of the galaxy than we do the five oceans. Although it was hard to choose, I was able to find ten
really great mysteries hidden in the marine depths. Mysteries that may never be solved. Number Ten: The Four Lost Submarines The year 1968 was not a good
time to be on a submarine, no matter what country you were from. Within the first five months of this year, there were four subs that went down, and not one could be fully explained. It started on the twenty fifth of January, with the INS Dakar from the Israeli navy. Nobody knows exactly
why this sub went down, even after her wreck
was found 31 years later between Crete and Cyprus. What was strange is that there
was no evidence of foul play, yet there was also no evidence that any emergency equipment was employed before the ship crashed. Just two days later, the
French sub Minerve went down. Despite her captain being
well-seasoned on subs, without a single incident
during his career, and the sub traveling just
below the water's surface, she disappeared without a
trace after reporting in, claiming to be an hour from
her home port in Toulon. Despite her proximity to the shore, her wreck has yet to be found. The next submarine that
disappeared that year was the K-129 from the Soviet Union. Everything about this submarine
is shrouded in mystery, and there is a surprising amount of debate still occurring as to what happened to it. American intelligence claimed
to have found its wreckage somewhere northwest of
Oahu in the Pacific Ocean, though its specific location
is an official secret. Some experts believe that
the loss is somehow connected to the final sub that vanished that year. The USS Scorpion vanished on May 22 and there are several theories as to what could have caused this crash. Most people believe that
it simply malfunctioned. After all, it was supposed
to have a major overhaul to bring it up to new submarine standards but the overhaul was postponed. Adding to the mystery is the
fact that the United States started looking for the vessel several days before it was due in port, as though they knew it
wasn't going to show up. Number Nine: Underwater Tornadoes. If you've ever experienced a tornado, then you know that they're
powerful forces of nature that shouldn't be messed with. So what happens when you run
into a tornado while diving? Well, for six experienced SCUBA divers off the coast of California, you consider yourself incredibly lucky just to have survived. These underwater tornadoes are most likely caused by changes in water temperature as a result of underwater volcanoes, but there's no way to know for sure as these phenomena are rare
and even more rarely studied. Wondering what else
nature can do underwater as well as it can on land? How about an underwater waterfall? It might sound totally redundant, but there are underwater waterfalls including one in Mauritius
in the Indian Ocean. So, how is this possible? Well, We know that cold
water is much denser than warm water, and when different temperature
currents meet in the ocean, the cold water takes a direct
route beneath the warm water in the same ways as water drops
on a land based waterfall. The sand from the shores is then driven by these ocean currents
off of the high coast shelf and down into the darker ocean depths. Number Eight: The Baltic Sea Anomaly. As the story goes, it was June of 2011 when a group of treasure-hunting divers known as Ocean X discovered
a mysterious object on the floor of the Baltic Sea. According to them, when they got within 650 feet or 200
meters of the object, all of their electronic equipment failed. Although the sonar images
they got are blurry at best, they show a mysterious-looking artifact that could be naturally-formed or created by the hands of man. Some even speculate that
the large disc-shaped object is extraterrestrial in nature. Scientists that have studied
samples taken from the rock believe it to have been
formed by glaciers, but this hasn't been confirmed and there is still much mystery
surrounding this discovery. Number Seven: The Bloop. This is one of the mysteries of the deep that has been solved, but
it certainly had people from all over the world
wondering about what strange, massive, and unknown sea creature could have made such a sound. "Bloop" was the name given to a previously-unidentified sound picked up by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration in 1997 in the Pacific Ocean. (bloop) Because the sound was unknown but described as "organic" in nature, it sent people wondering
what type of huge animal was making this distinctive
sound and loud noise. It wasn't until an acoustic
survey was conducted along the Bransfield Strait in 2010 that this mystery was solved. According to the researchers, the bloop was actually the
sound of ice breaking off of glaciers and falling into the ocean. But, if you're into audio
mysteries in the ocean, here's some good news: there
is another mysterious sound that has not yet been positively
identified by researchers. This sound is known as the upsweep. It has been heard since the
NOAA started recording sounds back in 1991. (low drilling sound rising in pitch) So far, they've only
been able to determine that the sound is originating near an area of heavy volcanic activity, leading experts to believe
that it may be caused by these underwater volcanoes. However, the fact that the
sound is heard more often in spring and fall makes
it even more mysterious. Number Six: Weird Bacteria. Bacteria are an important
part of every ecosystem, including the ocean. And some have adapted perfectly to survive in the extreme environment
found in the deep sea. One type that has recently been discovered are Green Sulfur Bacteria. Like many other types of bacteria, these need to photosynthesize to survive. In case you missed that day in
seventh grade science class, photosynthesis is a
process that plants use to convert sunlight and water into energy. The key here is sunlight. It's why a plant dies without light. They need sunlight to eat. So, what does that have to do with the Green Sulfur Bacteria? Well, they live below
where sunlight reaches. So, they use what little light is produced by hydrothermal vents instead. These are openings along
underwater volcanoes that produce heat and, apparently, just enough light for
photosynthesis to occur. Number Five: Battle Snails. Battle snails may not sound very exciting, but hang in there,
because these little guys are as amazing as they are mysterious. This species was so recently discovered that it doesn't even have a name yet! It lives around hydrothermal vents and actually uses iron sulfides to form plates of armor to
guard the part of its body that sticks out of its shell. In fact, when one of the biologists was first examining
one of these creatures, his forceps kept sticking to the armor because it's magnetic. How many creatures do you
know of that produce iron to use as a defense mechanism? Battle snails aren't the
only mysterious animal found around hydrothermal vents. There are also tube worms that can reach nearly eight feet or two and a half meters long, hairy hoff crabs that
get their nickname from the one and only David Hasselhoff, and eyeless shrimp that instead have light-sensitive
patches on their backs. Number Four: Cold-water Coral Reefs. Normally when you hear "coral reefs," you think about SCUBA diving in the warm water of the tropics. After all, that's where
coral reefs thrive, right? Many of them, yes. But there are also cold-water coral reefs that scientists have only recently been able to start exploring. Although these have been
known to certain communities for hundreds of years, the
depth at which they live made it difficult for researchers
to get to them until now. Like their warm water relatives, these massive organisms are home to a slew of other marine animals. Unlike tropical corals, cold-water corals don't have symbiotic algae
living in their polyps so they don't need sunlight to survive. They feed solely by
capturing food particles from the surrounding water. Who knows what scientists will
find as they explore them! Number Three: Giant and Colossal Squids. There are so many questions
surrounding these behemoths that it's hard to know where to begin. Because these massive
creatures live so far beneath the surface of the water, it's nearly impossible for
scientists to study them. And although their bodies and
parts have been washing up on shores for ages, it wasn't until 2006 that a living one was
finally captured on film. Although we know that their
diet likely consists of fish, shrimp, and other squid, we don't know how they
catch and eat this prey, or if they may occasionally
go after larger pray such as whales. We also don't know how they
behave on a daily basis, whether they remain in the
ocean depths all the time or head toward the surface at night. We don't know how long they live or even how fast they can swim. Even their size remains a mystery, as there's no way to know just how big these immense creatures can get. Number Two: The Great White Shark Mystery. When a group of researchers set out to study the movements
of Great White Sharks, they didn't expect to end up
with a puzzle on their hands. But, that's exactly what happened after they tagged a 9 foot
or 2.7 meter long female they called 'Shark Alpha'. When her data tag washed up
on shore a few months later, it had an interesting story to tell. The tag suddenly plunged deep
into the depths of the ocean, reaching nearly 2000 feet or 600 meters. Then, the temperature
of the tag jumped up. For the next 8 days, the
temperature stayed steadily high until it eventually dropped to the surrounding water temperature as the tag made its way to the shore. The only explanation was that something had eaten the Great White Shark whole and then the tag passed through its body. But, what? What creature is big enough to eat a 9 foot Great White Shark whole? People have suggested everything from a bigger Great White Shark or a Killer Whale to
Megalodons or even the Kraken. Although the general consensus is it was a significantly larger shark, this is one marine mystery that
will never truly be solved. All we know is that... They're going to need a bigger boat. Number One: The USS Saratoga Mystery. Imagine being the captain
of a ship in 1781. You're traveling along with another ship. The wind kicks up and
almost capsizes your boat, but you quickly get things under control. Then you look up to see how
your sister ship has fared and find the horizon empty,
without another ship in sight. The other ship has
vanished without a trace. That's exactly what happened
to Midshipman Penfield when he was put in charge of a ship that was captured by the USS Saratoga. This ship and her captain, John Young, had proven time and time again that they were more than capable
of performing their duties as this American ship
successfully captured a number of British and
other merchant ships after she was commissioned. What happened to this ship and her crew? How could so formidable a
ship vanish without a trace? The answer to those questions
are as mysterious as the wreck of one of her successor ships, the USS Saratoga CV-3,
which was intentionally sunk during a nuclear test
of Operation Crossroads. Perhaps the mysterious wreck
of the original Saratoga would hold some answers, but her final resting place
is part of the mystery. Had she been taking on water
without Penfield's knowledge and finally sank beneath the
surface as he was preoccupied? Did she see another ship
that she began to pursue that blew her out of the water? Or, did she fall victim to one
of the many large creature's that lurk beneath the ocean's surface? We shall never know. With an estimated 95% of the ocean not yet explored by humans, it's no surprise that even
if all of these mysteries are solved, there are sure
to be others uncovered. Nevertheless, do you think you can solve any of these mysteries? Let me know in the comments down below. And thanks for watching! (gentle, soothing music)
