Magnificent Underwater World With Otherworldly Mirror Pools Discovered In The Gulf Of California

Eddie Gonzales Jr. – MessageToEagle.com – These magnificent images look as if they were taken on an alien planet. The entire underwater environment gives you the impression you’re watching scenes from a science-fiction movie, but it’s a real place, here on Earth. It’s really stunning and we can just say our oceans are surprising us once again.

ROV SuBastian sampling from a chimney in a small smoker field (ORP-2) surrounded by microbial mats in the Guaymas Basin. Credit: ROV SuBastian / SOI

This time researchers report they have discovered a magnificent underwater world with stunning, otherworldly mirror pools in the Gulf of California. While exploring hydrothermal vent and cold seep environments, Scientists aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor discovered towering mineral structures up to 75 feet high and 33 feet across.

These underwater towers serve as biological hotspots for life. Dr. Mandy Joye from the University of Georgia and her team, noticed these towers featured numerous volcanic flanges that create the illusion of looking at a mirror when observing the superheated (366oC) hydrothermal fluids beneath them.

The minerals across the features were laden with metals and the fluids were highly sulfidic, yet these sites were teeming with biodiversity and potentially novel fauna.

“We discovered remarkable towers where every surface was occupied by some type of life. The vibrant colors found on the ‘living rocks’ was striking, and reflects a diversity in biological composition as well as mineral distributions,” said Dr. Joye.

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“This is an amazing natural laboratory to document incredible organisms and better understand how they survive in extremely challenging environments. Unfortunately, even in these remote and beautiful environments we saw copious amounts of trash including fishing nets, deflated Mylar balloons, and even a discarded Christmas trees. This provided a stark juxtaposition next to the spectacular mineral structures and biodiversity, ” Dr. Joey said in a press statement.

This underwater world is so alien-like that explores feel they’re floating inside a science-fiction movie.

ROV SuBastian measuring the temperature at a hydrothermal vent in the Guaymas Basin. This black smoker vent was named “Falkor’s Fountain.”. Credit: ROV SuBastian / SOI

“It is a different world down there. Each dive feels like floating into a science fiction film,” said Schmidt Ocean Institute Cofounder Wendy Schmidt.

“The complex layers of data we’ve collected aboard Falkor during this expedition will help tell the story of this remote place and bring it to public attention. Witnessing these remarkable oceanscapes, we are reminded that although they are out of our everyday sight, they are hardly immune from human impact. Our hope is to inspire people to learn more and care more about our ocean.”

The team will now spend the next few months analyzing samples and plans to publicly share the results.

Written by Eddie Gonzales Jr. – MessageToEagle.com Staff Writer