Off the Florida coast, at the bottom of the ocean, there are huge bright blue holes that seem to glow from within. What the unexplored holes contain has remained largely a mystery, but now scientists want to change that.
Investigators flock to a 425-foot “blue hole” off the Florida Gulf coast next month for signs of life, among other things. The hole has been named “Green Banana”.
Green Banana is located about 155 feet below the surface of the water, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It was first discovered not by researchers or scientists, but by recreational fishermen and divers, and is similar to sinkholes found on land.
NOAA said there are many underwater sinks, springs and caves scattered across the continental shelf of the Florida Gulf, but they have no idea how many exist or where to find them. Although they vary in size, shape and depth, most are believed to be home to an abundance of diverse plants and animals.
AJ Gonzalez / Mote Marine Laboratory / NOAA
In May and September 2019, a team of scientists from Mote Marine Laboratory, Florida Atlantic University / Harbor Branch, Georgia Institute of Technology and US Geological Society, with the support of NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, explored a deep hole blue called “Amberjack Hole”, located about 30 kilometers from the Sarasota coast. In August 2020 and May 2021, the same team plans to explore “Green Banana”.
Last year’s missions marked the deepest blue hole investigations ever conducted. After deploying divers and more than 600 pounds of equipment to Amberjack Hole, the team discovered that carbon, nutrients, and microscopic life lurked within.
The team even discovered two dead, but still intact, an endangered species, sawfish at the bottom of the hole. Investigators were able to retrieve the remains of one of the 12-foot-long creatures for examination.
While much of the seafloor is an arid wasteland, blue holes offer an “oasis” of diverse marine life, including corals, sponges, mollusks, sea turtles, sharks and more, NOAA said. But little is known about blue holes in general, due to their inaccessibility – many are hundreds of feet underwater, with relatively small openings.
The next mission will present even more challenges than the first. “Green Banana” is not only deeper than Amberjack, but “the configuration of the hole is hourglass-shaped and creates new challenges for lander deployment and water sampling,” NOAA said.
In addition to searching for unique or new species during the mission, scientists seek to explore the role of holes in the global carbon cycle, a possible connection between Florida’s sinks and groundwater, the secretion of nutrients from the hole that could be affecting the surrounding area. and whether or not to make holes in protected areas.
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