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“Full Size Refrigerator Just Floating”: 23 Wild Sightings At Sea To Make You Ever-More Cautious
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
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.
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#2
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.
#3
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.
#4
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.
#5
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.
#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.
#7
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.
#8
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
#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.
#10
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.
#11
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.
#12
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.
#15
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.
#16
It was like a giant squid but way bigger, makes you think about what could people from long time ago could've seen
#17
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.
#18
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.
#19
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...
#20
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.
#21
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.
#23
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.
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