Scientists ask for help from the public after perfectly aligned holes discovered on ocean bed

Scientists have been left baffled after finding unexplained lines of identically-shaped holes on the ocean floor and has asked the internet for help.

The unexplained holes on the seabed were found by the US’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ocean Exploration team 1.7 miles below the Atlantic Ocean's surface.

While the lines of holes have previously been recorded in the area, their origin has proved to be a mystery.

The organisation asked Facebook users to “get out those scientist hats” and to come up with their best hypothesis as to where the holes could have come from.

In a post on its Facebook page, it wrote: “On Saturday's #Okeanos dive, we observed several of these sublinear sets of holes in the sediment.

“These holes have been previously reported from the region, but their origin remains a mystery.

“While they look almost human made, the little piles of sediment around the holes make them seem like they were excavated by...something.

“What's YOUR hypothesis?”

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The post captured people’s imaginations and it gathered more than 200 comments from social media users who had varying ideas.

Some comments leaned more to the humorous and absurd side, while others answered more sincerely with their thoughts.

One person suggested: “Some type of crab maybe.”

Another said: “ A previously unknown crab species which hides in rectangular holes and hunts in linear packs, waiting for prey to fall into their clutches.”

Other people suggested that they aren’t holes at all, but instead, it’s a cable that’s been partially buried. One person suggested, “Looks like subsea cable just under the sand”.

Someone else joked: “I would say Star Fish doing cartwheels.”

“Swordfish sharpening its bill,” another Facebook user suggested.

Another jokester wrote: “I knew it all along: the Earth has a zipper.”

The exploration by the team was done as part of the organisation Voyage to the Ridge 2022 using a remotely-operated vehicle to map and explore deepwater areas of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Azores Plateau and Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone.

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