This Glowing Purple Ocean Orb Is Mystifying Scientists

They still don’t know, but according to the EVNautilus YouTube channel, “we’re thinking the purple orb is a pleurobranch, a nudibranch relative”.

The Nautilus website offers an update on the oddball discovery: “This unidentified purple orb stumped our scientists onboard”.

The purple blob is just 2 inches across and has a attractive round structure but researchers are not sure what exactly the creature is.

The same process applies to new discoveries. If it turns out to be a brand new life form, it could take years to identify. Now researchers say the creature could be a kind of amorphous sea slug called a pleurobranch – but that’s still just a guess.

A live video feed captured by cameras on the remotely operated vehicle Hercules shows the muddy ocean floor 5,301 feet (1,616 meters) down, as watching researchers remark on clams and crabs.

So putting a bunch of scientists together in a room and listening to them all say “I have no idea” is worth a share or two. The experts initially thought it was a shy little octopus but when the camera zoomed in the researchers speculated it could be a new species of nudibranch or soft-bodied marine mollusc.

Unlike snails, which have external shells, pleurobranchids grow their shells within the body.

Back on the vessel, the blob unfolded to reveal “two distinct lobes”. The researchers use a suction tube to get it outSource: EVNautilus/YouTubeOK, so what is it?

The crew present on the vessel has also made a video. This time, it’s a purple coloured blob that has the experts scratching their heads. A large network of scientists communicate and work in tandem with the Nautilus team, pointing out specimen that on-board scientists might otherwise miss.

The E/V Nautilus is operated by the Ocean Exploration Trust, a nonprofit organization that was founded by oceanographer Robert Ballard.

“We sort of sail with a science team of hundreds”, Poulton explained.