Scientists investigating the Pacific Ocean floor off the coast of California have come across a beautiful, strange-looking purple orb. And it’s something they’ve never seen before.
Investigators using the Exploration Vehicle Nautilus (E/V Nautlius), a 64-metre underwater research vessel that explores off the coast of California, were surprised by their finding.
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“This unidentified purple orb stumped our scientists onboard,” the researchers wrote on their website along with the video.
Clearly it did: throughout the three-minute video, the researchers play a guessing game, trying to somehow figure out what the object could possibly be.
“Blobus purpulous,” says one researcher in the video, attempting to give the mysterious object a scientific-sounding name.
“What is that?” another researcher asks.
Just as the team attempts to collect it for further investigation, a red crab makes its way toward the orb, briefly touching it. Rather than disturb it, the team waits and continues to guess at what it can be, even suggesting it could be an egg sack.
“Let’s leave it then. We don’t want to mess with spider eggs,” a researcher says.
In the end, the team manages to collect the orb using suction. Since collecting it, and consulting with other scientists, it’s believed that the beautiful orb could be a pleurobranch, a type of a sea slug. If it is, it will be the first purple one discovered.
The location of the discovery: