What is this? Golden ball of biological origin found at the bottom of the sea

Scientific expedition US National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationNOAA), found a strange object of biological origin, which they called the golden ball (due to its shape and color), but which still does not have an exact definition.

“Although we were able to collect the ‘golden ball’ and bring it to the ship, we still cannot identify it beyond the fact that it is biological in origin,” said Sam Candio, coordinator of NOAA’s ongoing ocean expedition. Researcher Statement.

The structure, approximately 4 inches (10 centimeters) wide, was found firmly attached to a rock off the coast of Alaska on August 30 at a depth of 10,827 feet (3,300 meters). The object was discovered by scientists using a remotely controlled vehicle. Deep discovererwhich was controlled from a ship Oceanos Explorer from NOAA.

The main hypotheses for the origin of this golden ball are: the gut of an egg, the dead part of a sea sponge, or a hitherto unknown coral.

“We probably won’t know more until we can move this into a laboratory environment, where we can continue to leverage the collective expertise of the scientific community with more sophisticated instruments than we can keep on the ship,” Candio added. “While this discovery is somewhat humbling, it serves as a reminder of how little we know about our planet and how much there is still to learn and appreciate about our ocean.”