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In this day and age, it feels like humanity should know everything there is to know about our planet. There have been leaps and bounds in technology and innovation, after all. And yet, the vast majority of the ocean remains unexplored. Life and work at sea and exploration beneath the weaves continue to have a lot of mystery attached to them.
Even when you’ve spent a lot of time around water, you can still be surprised. The people who work at sea took to an online thread on AskReddit to open up about the creepiest and most bizarre things that they’ve ever witnessed in the water. Scroll down for their stories.
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#1
A little story from when I was a 3rd Engineer onboard a Reefer vessel sailing southbound in the Atlantic by the West African coast (think we were sailing past Senegal).
For reference the work watches of a 3rd is 0800-1200 and 2000-0000.
At around 3am we had a failure in the main propulsion and all engineers were called to assist with bringing it back online. We managed to bring it back 3 hours later... already sleep deprived and exhausted from being in a 50degreesC engine room I went up to the stern to have a cigarette... casually leaning on the railings staring into the abyss I heard a voice say “Jump in, the waters cool” I was instantly taken back and looked around only to find just myself on the stern at the time no one else in the vicinity. I basically noped tf out and went to eat breakfast and get 1 hour sleep so I was ready for my watch.
On the plus side I did see whales breaching the water on the northbound sail back to Europe.
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#2
All manner of trash out at sea. We were sailing off west Africa in the Atlantic
and saw something white bobbing on the horizon and had to investigate to make sure it wasn’t someone in distress. Turns out it was a full size refrigerator just floating in the ocean.
Also the amount of fine sand and dust blowing off the Sahara is wild. The sky turns a shade of orange and the dust gets everywhere.
StrangeOne 1 hour ago
I'm sure there's still a tons and tons of large debris floating in the oceans from tsunamis and other natural disasters. I would like to think no one is actually just tossing old appliances into the ocean.
#3
Not working, but fishing in the Chesapeake Bay years ago out of sight of any land, suitcases started floating by. My old boss was convinced there could be valuable things in them, so he pulled up to pick one up. It was a small suitcase, and he said it was way heavier than it should be, and he couldn’t quite get it out without risking falling in, so he gave up. The next day there was a news report on suitcases washing up, being found by boaters, etc. it was body parts. Some woman had k*lled and dismembered her husband, stuck him into suitcases, and dumped them in the bay. Thank god my boss wasn’t able to get it onboard to open it.
StrangeOne 1 hour ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanie_McGuire Says here the smallest of the 3 suitcases contained his arms. That poor young guy, though, who found one while cleaning up a beach.
According to Oceana, more than 80% of the oceans on our planet remain unexplored. As a result of our lack of knowledge, only 7% of our oceans are designated as marine protected areas.
Ricardo Aguilar, the leader of Oceana’s expeditions in Europe, explains why it’s so important to map out the ocean. “By exploring previously unexplored areas, we have been able to discover new species and new habitats, but also to identify vulnerable habitats or threatened species that were protected ‘on paper,’ but because nobody knew they could be found in these places, there were no measures to effectively protect them.”
#4
Not seen but heard. Being under the ice pack the sounds of the ice shifting sounded like a witches scream. Knew what it was, but still sent chills.
#5
Having left the port city of Cobh, Ireland, well after midnight saw an Orca just under the surface of the very dark sea, sideways, looking up at me as it followed the ship.
This was on the aft-end (fantail) of a guided missile cruiser
#6
In the Strait of Hormuz, an absolute writhing mass of sea snakes hundreds of yards across. Also, in the same area, hundreds of dead bloated sheep, blown up like giant fuzzy beach balls.
Dr. Gene Carl Feldman, an oceanographer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, says that the ocean is hard to explore at great depths. You’re faced with zero visibility, extreme cold, and crushing pressure. It’s a real logistical challenge.
“In some ways, it’s a lot easier to send people into space than it is to send people to the bottom of the ocean. The intense pressures in the deep ocean make it an extremely difficult environment to explore,” Feldman told Oceana.
#7
We were swimming off a friends sail boat, and there were reports of a great white in the area. That didn’t stop us 20-something’s from swimming though. Anyway, I had just dived in to come up with this giant grey thing, a shark?, right in front of me. I freaked out and started moving towards the swim ladder as fast as possible while the giant grey fin thing came in my direction as well. All my friends were going ohhh and ahh like the giant grey thing wasn’t about to eat me.
After I got out, I turned to see what it was. It was a manatee, just coming to say hello.
Paul Scheermeijer 2 hours ago
I would have needed to change my swimwear.. would have sh** my pants
#9
I've been nudged in the ribs by a 7 ft plus sturgeon in the Russian River while drunk. Watching the body swim past me terrified me more than the hammerheads swimming under me while snorkeling in Hawaii.
A DSD Divemaster who had done 500 dives while working in Australia previously told Bored Panda that some of the scariest moments while on the job involved other people. "I had a couple of people lying about their air when I first started guiding people. For me, it was scary because I didn't think people would be that stupid. Running out of air puts everyone in that group in a dangerous and stupid position," he explained how even a single person’s actions can endanger the entire group.
“I have never had a gear failure, ripped hose, broken regulator, or anything, so all in all pretty lucky," he said, adding that he has complete faith in his equipment. So long as you do everything correctly, you minimize the potential risks.
The DSD Divemaster told us earlier that some of the coolest moments he’s seen during his dives included a humpback whale swimming over the group, while watching octopi and manta rays is also stunning.
#10
Not so much creepy as it was astounding. I’ve lost years of my life to the Bearing Sea. However it’s given back so much to me. My one true life changing experience was being just north of the Diomedes and the sea turning flat. Cloud cover cleared and the Cosmos was in full view. Laying on the deck and looking at the universe was beyond comprehension. It was as if I was close enough to taste how smells. Being so far from humanity and at such a latitude made a huge impact on me. I could have easily slipped into the sea never again knowing the atrocities of the world.
#11
Three floating deer carcasses tied to a safety buoy. Our theory was someone must have brought frozen deer in their vessel and threw them overboard at some point. Absolutely no idea why, weird as hell.
#12
I don't work at sea, but I saw something eerie one time while I was on a cruise on a small boat.
One night while we were on deck, we saw a bioluminescent shark on one side of the boat, and a sea otter on the other. Suddenly there was a lot of commotion and splashing from the sea otter, and then we heard it swimming away at high speed, coming up for a breath every few seconds. The breath sounds gradually got softer and softer as it got farther and farther away.
This happened more than ten years ago. I sometimes wonder if that little guy made it to safety or not...
Which of these stories stuck with you the most? Have you ever worked at sea, Pandas? When was the last time you were out on the water? What weird or unusual things have seen?
What advice would you give anyone who’s going to be living or working on or near the water for a long time? Share your experiences and thoughts in the comments.
#13
2 dead bodies and a severed arm. We were anchored off Shri Lanka
Family's_disappointment 1 hour ago
I'm sorry for this comment because it sounds rude, but its Sri Lanka not Shri Lanka
#14
Currently at sea as I type this, while not necessarily IN the water...but we went through a huge patch of fog, last week for about 2-3 days...standing on the bow,..could only see about 150 yards out...I was expecting Pyramid head to row up in his Pyramid boat at any moment.
It's just super creepy knowing beyond that fog is just an endless ocean, all around.
#15
Well this isn’t creepy, but it is funny when bioluminescent plankton gets sucked up into the marine heads and you get to pee on glowy water.
I spent 4 years sailing full time after college and I can’t think of anything *creepy* exactly. I have some very vivid memories of strange/striking moments.
* Captain smoking a cigarette in 30 knot winds so the ash was spraying behind him like sparks
* Being sea sick in the Gulf Stream in like 15 foot waves at night and falling asleep standing up draped on the rigging (clipped in)
* sailing around Bermuda with a bunch of traditionally rigged sailboats in a fog (looked like a movie, except all the boats were from different eras)
* Getting the p**s scared out of me while someone told me alien abduction stories in the middle of the night sailing in the Caribbean 😂
* looking down from the bow and seeing a shark rising the bow wake like a dolphin
The creepiest thing I encountered was drunk sailors in port tbh.
edit: I have also seen some crazy weather. I remember in the atlantic being surrounded by squalls at night to the extent that the lightning flashes felt like strobe lights. My shipmate and I turned to each other and were like “we need Daft Punk.”
Some of the scariest weather I’ve seen was actually on the Great Lakes, and the conditions can be just as sketchy as the ocean. Plus the waves are closer together so they are more uncomfortable.
Re: drunk sailors. Use your imagination.
StrangeOne 1 hour ago
The Great Lakes should be considered fresh water seas. They're deep enough, and vast enough.
#16
Nothing. It’s just weird when you look out over the ocean and there’s just nothing but water in any direction. Then it starts getting dark and all you see is black water below and the brightest stars above you’ve ever seen.
#17
It was like a giant squid but way bigger, makes you think about what could people from long time ago could've seen
#18
Hundreds of sea snakes feasting on the bloated corpse of some kind of animal.
#19
Don’t work at sea, but was fishing. We hooked a fairly large shark in clear shallow water (15 m) and it just chilled next to the boat. Boat was maybe 8m? Anyway before we cut the line a HUGE dark shape loomed up and swam next to the shark we hooked and it was even f*****g bigger, maybe an extra meter and a bit but that’s an extra meter of f*****g body. I felt a visceral primal fear, like I was a monkey as I clung to the boat and seen this giant shark checking out its buddy and us. We cut the line and watched them both swim away side by side, I never went back out to sea. F**k that.
#20
Sea spouts or marine tornadoes.
I didn't think much of them other than they were kinda interesting. You'd see them from after touching down and moving around and then dispersing.
Then one night at like around 2 AM we got broadsided by one in pretty severe weather.
This was while our largish vessel was attached to the sea floor. We got pushed off station several hundred meters.
We came a lot closer than I'd like to think about to sinking that night, with close to 300 people on board, most of whom were sleeping at the time.
Then I definitely found them less interesting and way more creepy.
#21
Not working, but a mini break with my partner to Amsterdam via North Shields. The North Sea was particularly bad that night. The captain was debating on whether it was safe to depart, and ultimately went for it. The ferry was swaying side to side to the point that all you seen was sky on one side and dark water on the other. Only time I’ve ever been sea sick.
#22
At night, nothing.
Just the vast, inky blackness stretching in every direction. The only thing breaking the endless void are the off white caps of the waves. It's the kind of emptiness that makes you feel small and insignificant and hyper aware that you'd be doomed if you fell in unnoticed.
#23
Saw some dead cows floating around here and there, particularly in the Med, Red Sea, and Persian Gulf. Lots of Sea Snakes. So many sea snakes. Like 1 every 10 square feet. Lots of old school CRT TV's are out there just floating around. I'm pretty sure I saw a human leg rafted up with some trash while pulling into Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela. The last most interesting thing was a spherical object covered in marine growth about 10' underwater passing by us. May have been an old contact mine.
#24
Not my story, but I just watched a YT video on Sailing into Freedom’s channel where his sailboat was struck by lightning at night at sea and it blew a hole in the bottom. He couldn’t get at the hole from inside so he put on his snorkel and goggles and went over the side to find it from below. At night. His GoPro recorded some large sharks swimming with him as he was taping the hole off to stop the boat from sinking. The hair on the back of my neck was standing up.
#25
Many years ago, fresh outa school I was working in the North Sea (out of Scotland) on the rig supply ships. 28 day rotations. I was on watch and was sure I saw a body floating in the water. I told the skipper and we launched an FRC to go get a closer look before reporting it. It turned out to be a VERY bloated, and dead sheep. It was huge! And at least 150 miles from the coast. Not the creepiest of stories, but it was freaky approaching it as it seemed very much like a body until you got quite close to it.
#26
I sailed across the Atlantic a few times and the creepiest thing is realizing how small and insignificant we really are. It’s very humbling.
#27
We found an abandoned yacht in the Mediterranean, it was just bobbing there. Sent the RIB to investigate. Reported back completely deserted, just half-eaten meals and suitcases. No signs of life.
#28
Along the coast of Japan south of Tokyo near Yokohama, thousands of jellyfish. I’m generally comfortable in the water and have jumped off the boat into the ocean countless times. I can only imagine if someone jumped into a bloom this dense and large without full diving gear they’d be paralyzed and dead within seconds by the stings.
Ace 40 minutes ago
Most jellyfish are pretty much harmless. Only one species, the Box Jellyfish, is considered deadly in its own right, i.e. a single sting will likely kill you (but not via paralysis); just a couple of others couple conceivably kill in sufficient quantity, but these are very rare. I mean no, I would not jump in n that situation either, and yes, I've seen similar, but it's extremely unlikely that doing so would have resulted in death,
#31
Dead body floating in the sea, the woman was never identified and the body showed signs of violence.
#32
Sea Snakes in the Persian Gulf. Bright neon pink, pretty easy to spot ( we stationed a Sea Snake Watch) so we could enjoy a little swim call while we were hanging out right after Desert Storm.
#33
I don't work at sea, but my friend used to live in an apartment that overlooked Biscayne bay in Miami. I was at her place celebrating July 4th one year. A lot of people were outside in the complex's courtyard to watch all the fireworks shows over the bay.At some point someone spotted a small boat coming our way, as if the people on it were intending to stop at apartment's dock, but as it neared, folks realized there was no one onboard. It's ropes were untied and dragging in the water. When it got close enough someone grabbed the ropes and secured the boat so it wouldn't float away.
It was a really eerie scene. The vessel had one small light hanging from the ceiling. It was a windy night, so the boat was rocking and the light would swing back and forth, illuminating and then darkening the the small craft's interior and its contents, including a large steel or iron hook that was lying in the middle of the deck. My friend took pictures of it. Unfortunately, they were taken with her digital camera that's long gone and posted on her live journal account which is also long gone.
#34
My friend and I decided to kayak to a small island off the coast of Kino Bay, Mexico in the sea of Cortez. We ended up getting pulled out by the riptide pretty quickly and had to paddle our a*ses off to get to the island and avoid being taken out to sea. After paddling for over an hour we started getting closer to the north side of the island. We could see seals exiting the water and getting up onto the rocks. The closer we got to the island the more visibility we had to the sea floor. Constant large dark shadows kept passing rapidly below the kayak. Probably just seals, but who knows. The hair in the back of my neck was sticking up the entire time. The local fisherman we spoke to couldn’t believe we kayaked to the island. A year or so later they landed the one of the largest White shark ever caught just a few miles south of there.
#35
I was actually on holiday, literally a few days ago and i was in a tinny out in the sea near the nsw coast and i saw a BIG BIG ray of some kind, like two meters across or something, and it just skidded under the boat, i wouldn't say its all that creepy, but it deffo gave me a fright being so close to an animal that big
Ace 33 minutes ago
Scuba diving off the beach in the Maldives one time I felt something brushing my leg, and given that I was behind my dive buddy and the other pair of divers, I looked around to see what it was - two or three of a group of leopard rays (less than a metre across, but don;t be fooled, that's big) had just swum around and over my legs,,, not spooky, not scary, somehow reassuring, difficult to explain it.
#36
Creepiest (but also coolest) I’d say is what you can’t see. Going up on deck at night with nothing but the light of the ship. Kind of looks like you’re just floating in an abyss.
#37
I was snorkelling alone on a black sand volcanic beach off an Indonesian Island looking for a shipwrecked US Frigate I knew to be there. It was getting very dark when I happened upon the massive tower of this giant ship looming up towards me 5m below. I felt so small and scared alone in the dark water I quickly abandoned my swim and waited till morning to finish the exploration.
#38
Not very creepy but coming across deceased people is a lot more common than people might think
#39
While off the coast of Somalia our boat was physically struck by something large underwater. If it was a sperm whale, it was the largest ever recorded.
#40
Was on a Navy frigate in the Persian Gulf. We’d send up our helicopters almost continuously to look for dhows illegally transporting oil and other commodities. Once found, we’d launch the RHIB to do board and search OPs.
The creepy thing is the Persian Gulf is awash with sea snakes. They are usually 2-3 foot long yellow and black things. Locals say they are venomous. These awful things are aggressive and will try to get onto your boat.
#41
Trying to dive under the hull of our tallship vis wasn't great... Start hearing loud clicking... Orcas popped by visibly 10 minutes later.
#42
This was years ago, I was out on a little zodiac boat with a friend on a river. Suddenly looked down and there was a sunken sailboat right below us. You could see the masts and below that the rest of it disappearing into the darkness. Creeped me out though I couldn’t put my finger on why, I just wanted to get the hell out of there.
#43
Thunderstorm around the Caribbean that seemed to last for days. An insane amount of lightning. More spectacular than creepy, to be fair.
#44
I am sailor. If was being honest the creepiest s**t is from other people on the boat.
When I was kid we were sailing into Bournemouth and spot light appeared on the water. It looked liked it came from above. Dodging back and forth on the water.
Turns out it was little house and lights were rebounding on the clouds.
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