Science & Technology,CuriositiesJUL 14, 2022

30 Of The Creepiest Facts About The Ocean You Might Wish You Never Knew, As Shared In This Online Thread

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No wonder there are so many horror movies made about the ocean. Think of Deep Blue Sea and Jaws, and it’s clear that our ocean anxiety has long been lingering.

But you don’t need Hollywood to find out what happens there. Check out our previous article that features chilling stories from sailors, scuba divers, and surfers who have seen things in the ocean they’d much rather unsee.

This time, we are taking you on a similar ride into the deep waters with this viral thread that has people sharing the most disturbing facts about the ocean. Let’s start with the fact that only 5% of the ocean floor has been explored and I'll just leave it here.

#1 Overthinking Level Expert

I remember watching a YouTube interview with a military diver. He described how when you’re doing a covert op you spend a lot of time just underwater doing nothing with no lights on until it’s time to move.

He specifically mentioned how he had to get used to having large things bump into him in the pitch black.

Freaked_The_Eff_Out

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313points

When we talk about oceans, we cannot ignore how tragically polluted it is. With each passing year, we expose the ocean to more pollutants, from trash to chemicals, industrial and agricultural waste, particles, excess carbon dioxide, and many others.

“What's really startling is how widespread human pollution is in the ocean,” Heather Spence, Marine Biologist orchestrating Coastal Marine Ecology Investigation and Outreach, told Bored Panda in an interview via email. Spence also researches underwater sound and noise on the MesoAmerican Reef that you check on her website "Ocean World Of Sound".

#2 Mostly Blue and Wet

It doesn't hate you. It doesn't love you. It doesn't even know you exist. When it destroys/capsizes your boat your boat didn't even cause a change in its movements.

I am a sailor and I am in love with a cold heartless b***h who couldn't care less whether I live or die.

Intelligent-Lie-7407, Guillaume Soucy

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306points

#3 Heavy Lifting, Light Attitude

Most of the plastic pollution in the ocean is not from straws, shopping bags, or consumer items as most of us were led to believe.
It’s from fishing nets and fishing gear.

TheSheekGeek, Kindel Media

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300points

#4 Big Splash Energy

When a whale dies, it creates a whole new ecosystem

Victor_IMayBeWeird, Mike Doherty

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283points

“I don't know of any place, no matter how remote, that doesn't have evidence of human pollution. And since waste products of human activities continue to go into the ocean, you could say the situation is getting worse,” she said.

Spence explained that short-term effects of ocean pollution include changes in animal behavior and sickness or death of marine organisms. “Long-term effects include these on larger scales and larger numbers of affected organisms, but also domino effects as decline or changes in one species impact other species that rely on them. For example, corals form the structure of coral reefs and if they die, it is a big problem for the whole ecosystem,” she said.

#5 Silent Depths Ahead

I’m a scuba diver and one thing that really scared me when I first started off diving, you hear SO MUCH more underwater then you ever will above on the surface, I’m not even talking about like the shifting or just the water itself moving, your hear things like fish clicking and other things like that, cuz underwater sounds move and travel a lot more so you hear a lot more and much quicker, was pretty out of nowhere when I first went under

Cogburn____CG, Marvin Meyer

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230points

#6 Deep Sea Hideout

"Hot tub of despair" is a lake under the ocean, in the gulf of Mexico. It is highly concentrated with salt and has dissolved methane. Any creature that enters dies.

Abathur11235, EVNautilus

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219points

#7 Eight Arms, No Problem

We don't really know whats it in I can say that for thousands of years we drew sea monsters beliving they lived in it. Surprising alot of stuff we found in those pictures were in the ocean. (Giant Squid recently ). Just makes you think what else is actually down there that we don't know about.

ghigoli, K. Mitch Hodge

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212points

“Other effects are to humans - even in the short term and certainly in the long term, we can get sick from contaminated seafood or swimming in contaminated water, and livelihoods and quality of life are impacted from the degradation of marine and coastal areas.”

There are many ocean polluters, including plastics that Spence calls “a huge problem.” Then, there are chemicals from runoff from land. “An invisible one is a noise, yet it is also extremely impactful since sound travels very well underwater and marine animals use sound to communicate and navigate.”

#8 Anchored in the Deep

There are perfectly-preserved shipwrecks from ancient Greece preserved at the bottom of the Black Sea. The water is so deep that it becomes anoxic (oxygen free), which preserves organic materials like wood.

Shipwrecks are cool, but I find the phenomenon a little disturbing, since there is probably no life down there.

colorforge, NOAA

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201points

#9 Glow in the Dark Vibes

The largest biomass migration takes place every night when deep sea animals come up to feed

Supraman83, Sigmund

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195points

#10 Silent Depths Speak

Only 5% of the entire ocean in the world has been discovered, that means that there is still 95% unmapped.

i9rzasm, NOAA

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184points

Having said that, Spence added that she likes to frame problems with the positive side of solutions. “When people feel hopeless or helpless, they may make short-sighted decisions, so it is important to maintain hope,” she said.

“We are currently at the start of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Globally, scientists, policymakers, and creatives are coming together to discuss the best ways to respect, protect, and work with ocean systems. We are looking for win-win solutions that recognize humans are not just actors but members of ocean ecosystems. We need to remember that just as humans can be the problem, we can also be the solution. And we need to be practical about it.”

#11 Rust Never Sleeps

Lost sailors in the sea who cling to wreckage basically have their skin dissolved by salt water after soaking for more than 3 days.

SnooOranges4231, Jason Blackeye

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181points

See Also:

#12 Silent Ocean Stare

When you dip your toe in the water you are no longer at the top of the food chain.

Kermitsfinger, Samson Bush

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173points

#13

This story is corroborated by the survivors. During one of the world wars, a ship was sunk and 11 survivors clung to a lifeboat until one of them was dragged down into the abyss by a "cephalopod". If he wasn't killed by the animal's beak, he would have died a horrific pressure death while the cephalopod probably rapidly descended with it's life prey. It's not possible to say which species this cephalopod belonged to, but the Giant Squid and Colossal Squid are the largest and heaviest known so far. And some scientists speculate there might lurk an even more massive species of cephalopods deep down in the ocean.

And whenever you sail by boat and look down into the deep blue darkness of the ocean, remember that the probability will never be zero to be suddenly grabbed by one and dragged down into the total darkness, dying a horrible, horrible death.

anon

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172points

Spence has an example of one win-win solution which has to do with noise from boat motors. “The noise is not the purpose of the motor. It is a byproduct of energy lost in the form of sound. Reducing that sound at the source improves motor efficiency and reduces environmental impact.”

#14 Liquid Whirlwind

I tell new scuba divers this: The ocean doesn’t care about you. It’s not actively trying to kill you. But it will do a lot of things on its own that will absolutely kill you if you’re not prepared and paying attention.

I realize this could apply to any natural environment but it feels much more apt when talking about the ocean. One wave that you weren’t prepared for can make your day pretty bad. For the ocean it’s just business as usual.

bg-j38, Mark Harpur

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167points

#15 Caught Between Waves

Point Nemo is the most isolated place in the world. It's in the middle of the South Pacific gyre, which is a massive rotating current that basically keeps any nutrients rich water from ever getting in. So there is no sea life anywhere to be found except for a few crabs and bacteria that live near some thermal vents on the ocean floor. It's so far away from any land that if you sailed there the closest people would be on the international space station. This is the location HP Lovecraft was describing when he provided the location of R’Lyeh where Cthulu and the other old ones love, although Lovecraft's coordinates were slightly off.

And in 1997 the loudest unidentified underwater sound ever recorded, known as "the bloop", originated near there. It was loud enough that it was recorded from multiple sensors 5000 miles apart and lasted for over a minute.

The prevailing theory is that it was ice cracking off the south pole but we don't actually know what caused it for sure.

MoobooMagoo, Ekrulila

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163points

#16

The Gulf Stream is created by the melting of ice from the north polar ice cap. That ice cap is rapidly disintegrating. Once it's gone, the Gulf Stream is gone. Once the Gulf Stream is gone, the weather pattern for the whole northern hemisphere dramatically changes.

This will be catastrophic.

dieinafirenazi

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151points

Spence also argues that the best way to reduce marine pollution is the reduction of waste. “Remember Reduce, Reuse, Recycle? We often talk about recycling, but these three actions are in priority order. If we bring people together from a variety of perspectives and focus on reduction of waste at the sources, I am sure we can make a positive impact on ocean pollution,” she concluded.

Moreover, World Listening Day is coming up on Monday, July 18th. "It's a good time to be putting a focus on ocean sound and noise. I'm the theme creator this year and here's the short video where I announce it," Heather Spence added.

#17 Complexity at Sea

The sonar we use for deep sea mapping really screws up a number of species especially whales, dolphins and porpoises. Imagine walking around and a tornado alarm decibel-level noise triggers right next to you. We do that every time we use that high-powered sonar and it basically f's up their own sonar abilities causing them to be unable to communicate and navigate.

Reyltjj, wikimedia.commons

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150points

#18

Depending on the person then this could be scary or really cool.

Oceans can have underwater oceans, rivers and waterfalls. Due to different water temperatures and density and all that scientific nonsense.

FaithlessnessOk1530

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143points

#19 Chill Above the Tropics

The Mauna Kea Volcano in Hawaii is the both the tallest Undersea mountain and the tallest volcano Hawaii. It sits 6000 meters below the surface of the ocean and stands a staggering 4000m above. Giving it an overall height from ocean floor to peak of 10,000m.

LeKrispyKreme, wikimedia.commons

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138points

#20

Once you get to a certain depth your buoyancy changes and you actually start get pulled down instead of floating up

Bsquareyou

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133points

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