When scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) discovered an odd-looking golden sphere while scouring the ocean floor during a 2023 expedition, they never anticipated the level of interest it would attract.
Now, two and a half years later, the identity of the unusual object—discovered while probing the depths within the Gulf of Alaska—has finally been revealed, and it’s not what many probably expected.
A Strange Discovery
This odd story began when the Deep Discoverer, a remotely operated deep-ocean exploration vehicle launched from the Okeanos Explorer, was combing the ocean floor in the Gulf of Alaska almost three years ago.
At a depth of more than two miles below the surface, scientists hadn’t expected to find anything that looked quite so unusual. That changed as Deep Discoverer suddenly came upon a golden unidentified object adhering to a rock, which appeared to have an opening in its surface. The team behind the discovery was curious enough about the object at the time that they decided to collect it and, upon surfacing, sent it to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, hoping it could be identified.
Once images of the unusual discovery were released, speculation ensued about whether the odd deep-sea find might be the biological remains of a sea creature, or perhaps an egg casing from which something had hatched.
Even more fanciful speculations included theories about “aliens” and sea monsters, although scientists acknowledged that the object, whatever it was, had been genuinely mysterious.
Now, more than two years later, there appears to have finally been a break in this unusual case.
Identifying an Unknown Deep-Sea Object
Allen Collins, Ph.D, a zoologist and director of NOAA Fisheries’ National Systematics Laboratory at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, says his team works on “hundreds of different samples,” and initially thought this object would be quickly identified.
However, that didn’t turn out to be the case in this instance.
“This turned into a special case that required focused efforts and expertise of several different individuals,” Collins recently said, admitting that identifying the golden orb from the Gulf of Alaska turned into “a complex mystery that required morphological, genetic, deep-sea, and bioinformatics expertise to solve.”
A combined effort ensued, drawing on the expertise of researchers from NOAA’s Fisheries and other Smithsonian scientists, who worked to unravel the physical and genetic mysteries posed by the object. One thing seemed clear early on, however: whatever this was, it was biological in origin.
DNA Provides the Key to the Mystery
Still, while it was obviously some kind of biological remnant, what perplexed researchers was the object’s fibrous nature, which didn’t seem to match any known animal anatomy. A clue emerged with the detection of a variety of stinging cells on its surface, known as cnidocytes, which are a common defensive mechanism found on creatures like sea corals, anemones, and other kinds of venomous life forms that adhere themselves to the ocean floor.
Further investigations revealed that the organism’s cellular makeup consisted of spirocysts, a type of cell found only in the group of cnidarians known as Hexacorallia, a discovery made by National Systematics Lab scientist Abigail Reft.
Comparing this information with a similar odd specimen collected back in 2021, which was uncovered by the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s Research Vessel Falkor, revealed a positive match for similar cnidocysts.
However, the research team still encountered difficulties linking the Gulf of Alaska object to known DNA samples, partially because it appeared to have become contaminated with DNA from a range of microscopic ocean life. With time, the successful whole-genome sequencing of the object confirmed the presence of a large volume of genetic material associated with a variety of large deep-sea anemones.
Further tests involving mitochondrial DNA sequencing confirmed that both specimens were genetically identical to a known genome: that of a rare cnidarian species, Relicanthus daphneae.
In other words, the “golden orb” is indeed something close to a deep-sea anemone—more specifically, it is a rare sample from what is currently recognized as the only known member of the suborder Helenmonae within the order Actiniaria.
“So often in deep ocean exploration, we find these captivating mysteries, like the ‘golden orb,’” said Captain William Mowitt, acting director of NOAA Ocean Exploration.
“With advanced techniques like DNA sequencing, we are able to solve more and more of them,” he added. “This is why we keep exploring—to unlock the secrets of the deep and better understand how the ocean and its resources can drive economic growth, strengthen our national security, and sustain our planet.”
Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.