2000 feet below the surface of the ocean is a sunken aircraft carrier encrusted with bivalves….
I’ve been watching it’s first exploration of the USS Independence via the live cams from the Nautilus exploration team, which is something I watch quite often when I need a break. I love their live stream, and you can even ask the crew members questions about what you see live!
Out of the cerulean gloom, lit only by the exploring craft’s lights, it’s exposed hull and beams rise like the rusted ribs of a lost sea monster. Ghostly white bivalves cling to it’s skin, some are plump and wide like old chimneys, others dangle like fat pale fingers into the water- otherworldly animals siphoning dinner from the darkness. Shrimp traipse over their surfaces, over the hardened skeletons of dead corals and crumbling shipwreck. The sparkle of plankton and debris in the Nautilus’ lights flicker like a halo of falling stars beyond the rubble, clouds of a world we hardly understand and continue to destroy every day despite.
Some days the Nautilus is exploring deep water corals, sighting species that have barely been named let alone studied- other days it’s mapping enormous shipwrecks. I’m a big ocean-nerd so these live streams have been absolutely riveting for me!
There is something so magical and fascinating about the depths of the sea to me. It’s like a ghostly alien world tucked into our own.
You can check out the Nautilus’ live stream channel at the link below as well as albums full of highlight videos and photos from previous explorations on their website:
-Taeden
Gloomth & the Cult of Melancholy 