Experts Made A Historic Marine Discovery, And Its Colossal Height Dwarfs The Empire State Building

It’s October 20, 2020, and Dr. Robin Beaman is onboard the Falkor, a research ship operated by the Schmidt Ocean Institute. Sailing along the dazzling waters of the Australian coast, Dr. Beaman is leading a team of scientists who hope to unlock more secrets of the ocean. To aid them in this endeavor, they’ve kitted out the vessel with sophisticated technology which monitors the vast underwater space beneath their ship. And now these instruments have detected an anomaly. Beneath the craft, something is looming – and nobody has seen anything like it in over a century.

Something In The Water

This thing in the water is enormous, measuring roughly 1,640 feet from its base to its tip. These dimensions are immense, but they can be difficult to envision. So, for a sense of scale, we can say that by way of comparison, the Empire State Building in New York City tops out at about 1,450 feet, trailing the underwater discovery by almost 200 feet.

New Discoveries

Incredibly, this gargantuan find is far from the only breakthrough made by scientists onboard the Falkor this past year. Experts from the Western Australian Museum have also spent time on the vessel, noting around 30 previously undiscovered species during their voyage. It’s been a big year, then, for the Schmidt Ocean Institute.

Plenty Of Fish In The Sea

Word of these 30 creatures new to science came out in April, but that was just the beginning. A few months later, the Schmidt Ocean Institute was again announcing news from the Falkor. Scientists carried by the vessel had come across yet more exotic and never-before-seen species.

Secrets Of The Seven Seas

Generally speaking, though, for all our advances as a species, we know remarkably little about the oceans of Earth. Astronomers have managed to capture an image of black hole in space, we’ve sent manmade vehicles to Mars, and individuals have personally walked along the surface of the Moon – yet our own waters clearly retain many secrets. But thanks to groups such as the Schmidt Ocean Institute, we’re now starting to learn more.