28 Terrifying Things Lurking in Deep Water Right Now
Humans have only explored a tiny percentage of the seafloor, so there’s a good chance some of the strangest creatures or relics haven’t even been discovered. With that in mind, here’s a collection of strange, eerie, and fascinating finds hiding below the surface. The ocean doesn’t need fiction. It’s got reality, and reality is weird enough.
A WWII Explosive the Size of a Bus
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
In 2020, a 12,000-pound British Tallboy explosive was discovered in the Baltic Sea near Poland. It was dropped during a raid in 1945 and sat untouched for decades. When the navy tried to defuse it, it detonated—luckily underwater, causing no injuries. The explosive was big enough to cause a mini-earthquake.
Goblin Shark With a Knife for a Face
Credit: Reddit
This shark looks like a fossil that never got the memo about extinction. With its long, flat snout and extendable jaw, the goblin shark is an absolute horror show that lives up to 4,300 feet down. It ambushes prey by launching its jaws forward at lightning speed.
Sea Devil Anglerfish With Its Own Lantern
Credit: Reddit
This deep-sea creature carries a glowing lure on its head to attract prey in total darkness. Females are large and monstrous-looking, while males are tiny and fuse permanently to the females’ bodies. They’re found at depths around 3,000 feet and are rarely seen alive but still manage to make headlines every time.
Sunken City Beneath Fuxian Lake
Credit: Youtube
China’s Fuxian Lake hides something mind-boggling: underwater walls, steps, and buildings that suggest a lost civilization. Sonar mapping revealed structures spread over a square mile. Some stones have carvings resembling ancient scripts. Historians can’t agree if it’s myth or history, but it’s definitely not just rocks down there.
Atlantis-Like Ruins Off Cuba’s Coast
Credit: Youtube
A Canadian diving company using sonar equipment off the coast of Cuba spotted symmetrical stone structures over 2,000 feet deep. The team described pyramid-like shapes and road grids. Some think they’re either natural formations or ruins of a city sunk long before recorded history even began.
Zombie Worms That Feast on Bones
Credit: Reddit
Osedax, nicknamed “zombie worms,” feed on whale bones that fall to the ocean floor. They secrete acid to drill through bone, then absorb nutrients—no eyes, no mouths, and no need for sunlight—just bone buffet. They’re found as deep as 13,000 feet.
Dumbo Octopus With Cartoon Charm
Credit: Reddit
Living up to 13,000 feet below the surface, Dumbo octopuses flap ear-like fins to swim, resembling the Disney elephant. Unlike their shallow-water cousins, they don’t squirt ink. Instead, they float and feed in calm silence. They’re oddly adorable for something that lives in a place where light doesn’t exist.
Barreleye Fish With a Transparent Head
Credit: Reddit
This fish is straight-up bizarre: its eyes are inside a transparent dome on its head. It was discovered alive in 2009 and floats in the twilight zone about 2,500 feet down. Its eyes rotate inside its skull to track prey above. It’s like a submarine wearing a clear bubble helmet.
Port Royal’s Submerged Pirate City
Credit: Reddit
Once called the “wickedest city on Earth,” Port Royal in Jamaica slid into the sea during a massive earthquake in 1692. The underwater remains include streets, houses, and taverns, still eerily preserved. Divers have explored this frozen-in-time pirate haven, where treasures—and skeletons—may still be buried under coral and sand.
Sea Cucumber That Walks on Legs
Credit: flickr
This creature looks like a mix of a gummy worm and a vacuum cleaner, and it lives in total darkness. The Enypniastes sea cucumber floats with fins and even has transparent skin showing its guts. It’s found around 1.7 miles deep and “walks” on tiny legs across the seafloor looking for snacks.
Drowned Temples Off Mahabalipuram
Credit: flickr
Off India’s southeastern coast, six submerged temples reportedly sit below the Bay of Bengal. Locals believe they were lost in a flood, and during the 2004 tsunami, parts of them were briefly revealed. Explorers later found carved blocks and walls, fueling speculation that myths of the “Seven Pagodas” might be real.
Dragonfish With Light Saber Teeth
Credit: Reddit
The black dragonfish is small, but it’s loaded with nightmare fuel. Its long fangs and bioluminescent patches help it hunt in the blackest parts of the ocean. Females have barbed teeth that glow and lure prey. Males? They don’t even eat. They just live long enough to mate and die.
Pavlopetri’s Perfectly Preserved Ruins
Credit: Reddit
Believed to be the oldest known underwater city, Pavlopetri lies off southern Greece. Over 5,000 years old, it has roads, courtyards, and buildings laid out like a map. The city was swallowed by the sea due to earthquakes. Its clear layout makes it feel like the people just stepped out.
Snailfish That Crushed All Pressure Records
Credit: Reddit
Scientists filmed the world’s deepest-living fish in the Izu-Ogasawara Trench, over 27,000 feet down. It’s a snailfish that looks like a ghost made of jelly. It withstands pressure so intense that most metal would implode.
Temple of Cleopatra Beneath the Sea
Credit: Facebook
Just off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt, lie the ruins of Cleopatra’s palace and religious temples. Earthquakes and tsunamis sent this royal complex underwater more than 1,600 years ago. Divers found statues, sphinxes, and coins. Archaeologists say much of ancient Alexandria might still be resting beneath the harbor.
Yonaguni Monument’s Staircase Mystery
Credit: Reddit
Near Japan’s Ryukyu Islands sits what looks like a sunken pyramid complete with terraces and stairs. Experts say it’s natural erosion, but others argue it’s man-made and thousands of years old. No carvings or artifacts have been confirmed yet, but its geometric layout keeps the debate alive.
Hatchetfish With Mirror-Like Camouflage
Credit: flickr
Named for its thin, metallic body, the hatchetfish uses light-sensitive organs to adjust how it reflects light, making itself almost invisible. It lives between 600 and 4,500 feet down. This bizarre ability is called counter-illumination.
Ancient Stone Circles in Lake Constance
Credit: Reddit
In Switzerland, archaeologists found hundreds of carefully stacked stone mounds below Lake Constance. They date back nearly 5,500 years and form massive circles. Their exact purpose is unknown. Some think they marked sacred spaces, while others believe they tracked stars. No one expected them to be underwater.
Blobfish’s Unwanted Fame
Credit: Reddit
The blobfish doesn’t look that weird in its natural, high-pressure home 2,000 feet deep. But bring it to the surface, and its body turns into a gelatinous droop. It’s often labeled “the ugliest fish,” but that’s just gravity being rude. It was never meant to be seen on land.
Sunken Lab in the Baltic
Credit: Reddit
A diving team in 2014 found a suspected weather station buried underwater in the Baltic Sea. Rusted equipment, weapons, and mysterious barrels were pulled from the site. Some believe it was used for coded communications.