Mysterious golden ball found on the ocean floor: “Looks like a horror movie”

Scientists are examining the DNA of a mysterious underwater find

A mysterious golden orb that looks like leather is found on the ocean floor off the coast of Alaska. Scientists are analyzing the DNA of a mysterious object that could be the egg of an unknown sea creature or a sea sponge.

A mysterious golden ball that may be an egg laid by an unknown sea creature has been discovered on the ocean floor off the Pacific coast of Alaska, The Guardian writes.

A sleek object with an intriguing hole in the center was discovered at a depth of about two miles by a remote-controlled submarine explorer.

Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the US who made the discovery speculate that it could be someone’s egg or a sea sponge.

Researchers are conducting tests and DNA analysis to figure out what the shiny object is that feels like “skin tissue,” according to Noaa.

A remote-controlled hand was deployed to “tickle” the egg-shaped object, which turned out to have a delicate texture “like skin.” It was then carefully “aspirated” through a tube for testing in the laboratory. The dive is part of the Seascape Alaska 5 expedition, which runs until September 15 and can be followed live.

The mission will explore the Gulf of Alaska to depths of up to four miles, including deep-sea habitats of corals and sponges, as well as geological features such as mud volcanoes, The Guardian reports.

Team members offered theories about the object’s identity, including that it was an egg shell or a sponge. They suggested that the hole in it was caused by a hatched creature or a predator that had gotten inside.

“I just hope that when we poke at it, nothing decides to come out,” one scientist said. “It’s like the beginning of a horror movie.”

In pictures taken from the ocean floor, the object had a golden hue, but this was attributed to reflection from the submarine’s headlights. A photograph of the object taken in the laboratory indicates its brownish-yellow color.

Several species, including deep-sea fish such as sharks, lay their eggs on the seafloor, making them less likely to be washed away by ocean currents. Sponges are simple aquatic animals with dense, porous skeletons that attach to rocks, writes The Guardian.

Kerry Howell, professor of deep sea ecology at the University of Plymouth, said: “When you see it, it gets you excited and you ask, ‘Where did that come from?'”