Mysterious 'blue goo' at the bottom of the Caribbean Sea baffles scientists
Miscellaneous / / April 04, 2023
Another reminder of how little we know about deep sea life.
At the bottom of the Caribbean Sea near the Virgin Islands, at a depth of 407 to 611 meters, scientists have discovered several very strange living creatures that have not yet been identified. They were called "blue slime" (Blue Goo).
These strange organisms have been caught on the camera lens of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) deep-sea remotely operated vehicle. Personnel were obtained on September 30, but since then it has not been possible to establish that this “mucus” belongs to any species.
Scientists have suggested that this is either a soft coral, or a sponge, or representatives of tunicates - gelatinous marine invertebrates, which are sometimes called sea squirts.
“I can tell you it’s not a stone, but it’s all I can do,” joked one of the researchers who observed these organisms during a broadcast from a deep-sea submersible.
Experts note that identifying these creatures is not an easy task. According to the World Register of Marine Species, there are about 2,000 species of soft corals, about 8,500 species of sponges, and approximately 3,000 species of tunicates.
If experts on the species fail to identify the blue slime, it will remain a mystery until a live specimen is obtained, the scientists added.
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