Mysterious “blue slime” at the bottom of the sea has scientists baffled (5 photos)

Ocean scientists have discovered a mysterious creature with “blue goo” on the seabed in the Caribbean Sea.

Newly discovered unidentified deep-sea creatures in the form of "blue goo" hanging on the seafloor in the Caribbean have scientists scratching their heads. During the live broadcast of the expedition, team members discussed what kind of balls these could be, but none of the researchers was able to give a definite answer.

A close-up of one of the mysterious "blue goo" creatures discovered by researchers using an ROV near the island of Santa Cruz in the Caribbean Sea





On August 30, scientists operating a submersible vehicle (ROV) near the seabed off St. Croix, one of the US Virgin Islands, came across several blue gooey creatures. The mysterious droplets were found lying motionless on the seabed at depths ranging from 1,335 to 2,005 feet (407 to 611 meters).

During the dive we also saw a green-eyed fish



The researchers piloted the ROV from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) research vessel Okeanos Explorer, which has spent the last four months exploring sections of the North Atlantic as part of NOAA's Voyage to the Ridge 2022 research series. As with every dive on these expeditions, NOAA provided live coverage to deep-sea diving enthusiasts around the world.

During the live broadcast, researchers noticed and zoomed in on one of the unusual blue creatures, and began discussing what it could be. Some observers noted that it was likely either a soft coral or a sponge, and perhaps even a tunicate—jelly-like marine invertebrates sometimes called ascidians. The team also gave several potential nicknames for the organism, including "lumpy blue thing", "blue biomat" and "blue goo".

As a result, the expedition members could only agree on what this mysterious creature was not.

“I can tell you for sure that this is not a stone, but that’s all I can do,” joked one of the researchers.

Barbuda by the sea day





According to NOAA, other noteworthy sightings from this dive include green-eyed fish (Chlorophthalmidae), hatchetfish (Sternoptychidae), barbuda (Polymixia), glass sponge (Hexactinellida), bamboo coral (Isididae), fossilized coral reef, and the rarely seen orgy of sea urchins.

A cluster of about 30 sea anemones, which scientists believe represents a large reproductive group



Now the team is about to begin the lengthy process of identifying the mysterious blue goo.

In a live broadcast, the researchers said they would send images and videos from the dive to coral and sponge experts to try to identify the mysterious blobs. This is not an easy task, since according to the World Marine Species Register, there are about 2 thousand species of soft corals; about 8,500 species of sponges, according to NOAA; and about 3,000 species of tunicates, according to the Smithsonian Institution.

If experts are unable to identify the species, "the mystery will remain a mystery until a specimen is collected," the scientists said.

The team believes this sticky, mysterious creature is a perfect example of what makes these expeditions so interesting and important - for both spectators and scientists.

“There will always be at least one thing that surprises you,” one of the researchers said.

Angler fish lies on the seabed