Scientists were left puzzled when they discovered lines of identically shaped holes on the ocean floor. The team turned to the internet to find answers.
The unexplained holes on the seabed were found by the US’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ocean Exploration team 1.7 miles below the Atlantic Ocean’s surface.
Although lines of holes were previously recorded in the area they are now a mystery.
The organisation asked Facebook users for their opinions. “get out those scientist hats”to develop their best hypothesis of where the holes could have originated.
In a Facebook posting PageIt wrote: “On Saturday’s #Okeanos dive, we observed several of these sublinear sets of holes in the sediment.
“These holes have been previously reported from the region, but their origin remains a mystery.
“While they look almost human made, the little piles of sediment around the holes make them seem like they were excavated by…something.
“What’s YOUR hypothesis?”
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The post captured people’s imaginations and it gathered more than 200 comments from social media users who had varying ideas.
Some comments were more humorous or absurd than others, while others responded more honestly with their thoughts.
One person suggested: “Some type of crab maybe.”
Another one: “ A previously unknown crab species which hides in rectangular holes and hunts in linear packs, waiting for prey to fall into their clutches.”
Other people suggested that they aren’t holes at all, but instead, it’s a cable that’s been partially buried. One person suggested, “Looks like subsea cable just under the sand”.
Someone else joked: “I would say Star Fish doing cartwheels.”
“Swordfish sharpening its bill,”Another Facebook user suggested it.
Another jokester wrote this: “I knew it all along: the Earth has a zipper.”
The team explored the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and Azores Plateau deepwaters using a remote-operated vehicle.
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