Channel: World Unearthed

Category: Entertainment

Tags: ocean mysteries unsolvednew speciesplanedeeparchivespiratebizarrecaptain morganlost at seadeep seanew creaturesunsolved ocean mysteriesancient discoveriesexplainedseapavlopetriport royalmysteriousunderwater citiesdeep sea mysteriestreasureabandonedunusualstoriesegyptocean mysterieshistoryancientactually existstrangearchaeologicalheracleionweirdoceanuncovereddiscoveriesdiscoverycarribeanbahamasunderwaterunsolvedatlit yam

Description: From the ancient city of Atlit Yam, to the most notorious pirate hang out in the Caribbeans, these are 7 UNUSUAL Deep Sea Discoveries ! 5. In 2014, scientists discovered more than 1,000 new species in the ocean, well 1,451 to be exact. It is great to know that even in this day and age, when people assume we know everything, there are incredible new discoveries almost weekly ! Some of the more popular new species are the Indonesian Psychedelic Frogfish, boy thats a long name, or the aptly named Skeleton Shrimp. The craziest part? Scientists say that at this discovery rate, it would take more than 360 years to identify every creature living in Earth’s oceans ! 4. Port Royal Our next stop on this underwater journey is known as the “Wickedest city in the world”. Now is this just some urban legend, or was Port Royal Jamaica, really the “WICKEDEST” city in the world ? There was no shortage of prostitutes, rum, pirates, and slave trade, that part is true. And during the late 1600’s it was the SECOND biggest city in the new world, only being surpassed by Boston. Now the next part of the story, takes a bit more to “believe”, on the sunny morning of June 7, 1692, the area was hit with a MASSIVE earthquake, estimated at a 7.5 magnitude. The earthquake was so horrific that half of the city was gone within seconds. Instant liquefaction and the fact that Port Royal was partially built on loose sand, were the main reasons more than 33 acres of the city disappeared. For centuries people believed that what happened to the town was divine retribution, and it became somewhat of a cautionary old wive’s tale. During the 1950’s the British completely gave up on Port Royal, and most residents left with them. The city has withered away, but a lot of 17th Century history lie under 40 feet of water. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you see things, diving in the Port Royal area is prohibited without special access from the Jamaican Government. Some of you might recall a certain rum by the name of Captain Morgan. It is named after one of the most famous privateers ever, Sir Henry Morgan. He was, at one point, the MAYOR of Port Royal. During the earthquake his grave was taken by the sea, so maybe one day, someone can find his body, until then…. Stay thirsty my friends… wait that's the wrong brand. Nevermind. 3. The deepest dive About half a mile away from the Staniel Cay Yacht Club in the Bahamas, wreckage of a suspected drug plane can be explored. But you have to prepare, because as you can see in this picture, the dive would be insane ! Turns out it is one of the easiest underwater plane wrecks to get to, and explore ! And it is not to be confused with the Curtiss C-46 plane wreck near Norman’s Cay. That one was part of the Medellin Cartel, and at some point made money for the most powerful drug lord ever, Pablo Escobar. In case you had no idea, the Medellin Cartel made at least 420,000,000 million dollars per week and supplied 80% of the global market for Cocaine. 2.Pavlopetri From the Bahamas, we get to travel all the way back to the Mediterranean Sea. This time to the coast of Greece. Pavlopetri is probably one of the oldest,oldest submerged cities in the world. There is no denying the sheer beauty of this underwater discovery. How old is it really ? About 5000 years ! It is one of the best preserved Bronze Age cities because after it was covered with water, it stayed undisturbed ! The city found its way back to history books in 1967 when a team of archaeologists from Cambridge University, lead by Nicholas Flemming, decided to follow a lead and dive in that location. In 2009, Pavlopetri became the first submerged town to be digitally surveyed in 3 dimensions using sonar mapping ! Not much information is being released about upcoming dives because officials want to protect the site from tourists and sailors alike. 1. Atlit Yam Remember how Pavlopetri was “really old” ? Well Atlit Yam puts it to SHAME. Atlit Yam is an ancient town off the coast of Atlit in Israel. It is estimated to be around 9000 years old and it is one of the few examples of a Pre- Pottery Neolithic site ! What does that even mean? It means that Atlit Yam is a remnant of the last part of the Stone Age! Specifically the time between humans figuring out that farming is good, and creating pottery ! That wasn’t so hard now was it? The town covers 47,000 square yards of underwater awesomeness and possible one of the greatest finds is this human skeleton ! They did find more than one skeleton, and after some testing, the skeletons of a woman and child proved to be the earliest known cases of tuberculosis. Human bones were not the only ones that were preserved though, researchers also found animal bones from wild species and some plant remains like wild grapes and poppy seeds !