Scientists identify Alaska’s mysterious golden orb as the remains of a deep-sea anemone

A strange golden orb pulled from the Gulf of Alaska seafloor in 2023 has finally been identified, with NOAA Ocean Exploration saying the object was once part of the base of a giant deep-sea anemone, Relicanthus daphneae.

Credit: NOAA Ocean Exploration, Seascape Alaska

The sample was collected about two miles below the ocean surface during a NOAA expedition and had puzzled researchers because it looked like a smooth, gold-colored sphere with a tear near its base.

The orb was sent to NOAA Fisheries’ National Systematics Laboratory at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, where scientists combined physical inspection with genetic analysis to solve the case.

Scientific American reports that the sample and a similar one collected in 2021 both contained spirocysts, stinging cells found in cnidarians, and that genome sequencing tied the material to Relicanthus daphneae.

In NOAA’s own words:

“This was a complex mystery that required morphological, genetic, deep-sea and bioinformatics expertise to solve.”

Researchers say the object was not the body of the anemone itself, but the anchoring material it used to hold onto the seafloor.

Because anemones attach from underneath, the base can build up in layers and take on an unfamiliar shape once detached or collected, which is why the orb looked so unlike the animal it came from.

NOAA Ocean Exploration acting director William Mowitt said:

“So often in deep ocean exploration, we find these captivating mysteries, like the ‘golden orb.’”

The identification closes a two-year mystery that drew wide attention online after the sample was first seen on a video feed from the Okeanos Explorer expedition near Alaska.

Credit: NOAA Ocean Exploration, Seascape Alaska

It also shows how much of the deep ocean still remains poorly cataloged, with DNA sequencing and museum collections now doing as much work as the expedition itself in turning odd objects into classified biology.