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“Full Size Refrigerator Just Floating”: 30 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 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 2 days 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.
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#2
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.
Dragon mama 1 day ago
Forget the "screaming" sound, the very idea of being UNDER the ice is terrifying to me!
#3
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.
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
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 days ago
I would have needed to change my swimwear.. would have sh** my pants
#5
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.
#6
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 2 days 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.
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
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.
#8
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.
#9
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
Geoffrey Scott 2 days ago
USCG, 1980-1982 aboard ship. Quite normal while underway to see porpoise/dolphins swimming about a foot off the stem(pointy part). Not sure if the stem was aiding their swim, but would also roll on their side and look at us. Pretty cool.
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
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.
Karl der Große 1 day ago
I stepped on a live fish in Lake Tahoe. Like you, I've seen things that ought to have been scarier and were more dangerous, but that one incident freaked me out.
#11
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.
#12
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.
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
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.
#14
2 dead bodies and a severed arm. We were anchored off Shri Lanka
Family's_disappointment 2 days ago
I'm sorry for this comment because it sounds rude, but its Sri Lanka not Shri Lanka
#15
A half sunk yacht, full of sharks
#16
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.
#17
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.
Geoffrey Scott 2 days ago
At the start of the Mariel (Cuban) boat lift. Got the call out on our 210' USCG cutter from Key West. Must have been the start of a tropical depression there heavy weather pierside. Out past the Sea buoy waterspouts 360 degrees around us. Our on site station was 13 miles off Mariel harbor. All the way down, finding boats with no one aboard, paint a red 'x' on them after inspection. MANY lives lost as the boats we aided after were packed to overflowing.
#19
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 2 days ago
The Great Lakes should be considered fresh water seas. They're deep enough, and vast enough.
Geoffrey Scott 2 days ago
And cause their own weather (lake effect snow). They are historically warm this early winter, and have caused 18-24 inch snowfalls in the latest cold air push in N Mich. Glad I don't live in Buffalo.
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Major Harris 1 day ago
The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound And a wave broke over the railing And every man knew, as the captain did too T'was the witch of November come stealin' The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait When the gales of November came slashin' When afternoon came it was freezin' rain In the face of a hurricane west wind
S Bow 21 hours ago
Upvote for Gordon Lightfoot, The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald.
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Janissary35680 1 day ago (edited)
Chuck 'im in a long boat 'til he's sober
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#20
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.
#21
It was like a giant squid but way bigger, makes you think about what could people from long time ago could've seen
#22
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.
#23
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.
#24
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...
#25
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.
#26
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.
#27
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.
#28
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.
#29
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.
#30
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.
What do you think ?
WoodenLion 2 days ago
i saw a military Harrier fly straight into the sea once. --- i was laying on deck one night and the persaid metor shower was going on. i saw about 40 'falling stars' an hour all night long.
WoodenLion 2 days ago
i saw a military Harrier fly straight into the sea once. --- i was laying on deck one night and the persaid metor shower was going on. i saw about 40 'falling stars' an hour all night long.
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