VIDEO: Strangest Ocean Phenomena

There is still so much we don’t know, so much that remains to be learned about the secrets of the deep, since we’ve explored less than 5% of the world’s oceans!

Maybe we’ll eventually find mermaids, who knows…?!

According to Wikipedia, humans first acquired knowledge of the waves and currents of the seas and oceans in pre-historic times. Observations on tides were recorded by Aristotle and Strabo.

Early exploration of the oceans was primarily for cartography and mainly limited to its surfaces and of the animals that fishermen brought up in nets, though depth soundings by lead line were taken.

Although Juan Ponce de León in 1513 first identified the Gulf Stream, and the current was well-known to mariners, Benjamin Franklin made the first scientific study of it and gave it its name.

Franklin measured water temperatures during several Atlantic crossings and correctly explained the Gulf Stream’s cause. Franklin and Timothy Folger printed the first map of the Gulf Stream in 1769-1770.

Information on the currents of the Pacific Ocean was gathered by explorers of the late 18th century, including James Cook and Louis Antoine de Bougainville. James Rennell wrote the first scientific textbooks on oceanography, detailing the current flows of the Atlantic and Indian oceans.

TheRichest says that with water covering 70% of the Earth’s surface, it’s no wonder that oceans yield spectacular species, with scientists finding up to four new species a day, according to the World Register of Marine Species. They add that there are also approximately 228,450 marine species known to scientists with some two million more multi-celled marine organisms still to be discovered.

The ocean is also home to other phenomena including giant beached whales, bioluminescence – when water appears to be glowing – and the yearly migration of millions of red sea crabs on Christmas Island, stopping drivers and pedestrians in their tracks.

Seahorses continue to fascinate people time and again, not only for their combination of a norse-like head with S-shaped bodies but also because of what’s seemingly a reversal of roles in the natural world i.e. the male having to do the “pushing.”

Rogue waves are an amazing phenomena that could have deadly consequences too, engulfing ships and fishermen in its wake. Short-tail stingrays are also considered to be dangerous.

The death of Australian wildlife expert Steve Irwin, “The Crocodile Hunter,” by a sting ray brought the species to prominence in 2006 but in reality, that was a freak occurrence that happens on extremely rare occasions. Sea pens and glass squid appear to go hand in hand, although neither are what they seem.

Underwater, famed French marine explorer Jacque Costeau once said “When one man, for whatever reason, has the opportunity to lead an extraordinary life, he has no right to keep it to himself.”

Such is the inspiration by marine biologists, sailors, and regular people alike to continue to explore life under water. Despite man’s advancements of NASA and seeking life on other planets, it’s seeing what’s under the earth’s surface where marine life will help us truly understand our human world.