VIDEO: Mysterious Ocean Facts

Did you know that so far we have explored less than 5% the ocean?! There is still so much we don’t know, so much that remains to be learned about the secrets of the deep. Here are some of the most mysterious facts about our oceans and also some information on our favorite phenomena, provided by Wikipedia.

1. Milky seas, or mareel, is a condition on the ocean where large areas of seawater (up to 6,000 sq mi or 16,000 km2) appear to glow brilliantly enough at night to be seen by satellites orbiting Earth. Modern science only tentatively attributes this effect to bioluminescent bacteria or dinoflagellates, causing the ocean to uniformly glow an eerie blue at night. However, there is no modern research to prove that bioluminescent bacteria are capable of illuminating the ocean from horizon to horizon and for days at a time, as described in mariner’s tales for centuries (notably appearing in chapter 23 of Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea); and, in fact, the effect has not been rigorously documented nor thoroughly explained, even in modern times.

2. A brinicle (brine icicle, also known as ice stalactite) is a downward growing hollow tube of ice enclosing a plume of descending brine that is formed beneath developing sea ice. As sea water freezes in the polar oceans, salt brine concentrates are expelled from the sea ice, creating a downward flow of dense, extremely cold and saline water with a lower freezing point than the surrounding water. When this plume comes into contact with the neighboring ocean water, its extremely cold temperature causes ice to instantly be formed around the flow. This creates a hollow stalactite or icicle, referred to as a brinicle.

3. Red tide is a common name for a phenomenon known as an algal bloom (large concentrations of aquatic microorganisms) when it is caused by a few species of dinoflagellates and the bloom takes on a red or brown color. Red tides are events in which estuarine, marine, or fresh water algae accumulate rapidly in the water column, resulting in coloration of the surface water. It is usually found in coastal areas. It kills many manatees every year.

4. Pyrosomes, genus Pyrosoma, are free-floating colonial tunicates that live usually in the upper layers of the open ocean in warm seas, although some may be found at greater depths. Pyrosomes are cylindrical or cone-shaped colonies made up of hundreds to thousands of individuals, known as zooids. Colonies range in size from less than one centimeter to several metres in length.

5. A whirlpool is a body of swirling water produced by the meeting of opposing currents. The vast majority of whirlpools are not very powerful and very small whirlpools can easily be seen when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones in seas or oceans may be termed maelstroms. Vortex is the proper term for any whirlpool that has a downdraft.

6. Rogue waves (also known as freak waves, monster waves, episodic waves, killer waves, extreme waves, and abnormal waves) are large, unexpected and suddenly appearing surface waves that can be extremely dangerous, even to large ships such as ocean liners.

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