From times immemorial, deep blue sea appeared to be a hostile and hazardous environment to man. Like on land, there are anomalous area in oceans and seas. In addition to the well-known Bermuda Triangle and the Mariana Trench, there are many other places in all the oceans of the world, where strange and mysterious phenomena occur.
The Sea of the Devil is a part of the Pacific Ocean, located to the south-east off Japan. It is a triangle between the islands of Honshu, Luzon, and Guam. There are various anomalies in the area of the Sea of the Devil. In particular, there are no marine animals there. Seamen feel discomfort and fatigue when they find themselves in those places. In addition, there is a phenomenon of oppression of living organisms in the area. Thus, in 1978, there were successful experiments conducted on board the whaling ship "Vladivostok" to grow wheat in maritime navigation. However, when traveling in the Sea of the Devil, the seeds began to swell and burst; there was white liquid flowing out of them.
The part of the Atlantic Ocean between the Canaries, North and Equatorial streams is called the Sargasso Sea. In September 1492, the caravels of Columbus came across an enormous amount of olive-green algae in the Atlantic Ocean. The explorer wrote in his diary: "... so much grass, it seemed the sea swarmed with it." The voyage on the "floating" meadows" lasted for about three weeks. The "meadows" were covered with many air bubbles from the plants. They reminded the Spanish sailors of Sarga - a native Spanish grape. That was the origin of the name of the sea - Mare de las Sargas - "Sea of Grapes." Jules Verne wrote in his book on discoveries in geography that the unusual sea without shores was larger than the Australian continent. He called it "a lake in the open ocean."
Superstitious sailors attributed ill reputation to "the lake." Numerous legends appeared about it saying that the sea was a haven to monsters that drag ships into the deep ... The famous writer also suggested that it was the depths of the Sargasso Sea that swallowed Atlantis with its highly developed civilization ...
Another "sea trap" is Tierra del Fuego - an archipelago off the southern tip of South America. During his first trip around the world that took place in 1520, famous traveler Ferdinand Magellan saw a lot of moving lights on the shores of this place. Some assumed that they were the lights, lit on floating boats. This gave the explorer the reason to call the islands Tierra del Fuego - The Land of Lights. Later it became known that it was local residents who signaled each other at night about the motion of unseen monsters swimming through the strait, which was subsequently named after Magellan ...
Another amazing event that occurred off the coast of Tierra del Fuego a few centuries later still remains a mystery. In October 1913, sailors on board a British ship saw an unknown drifting vessel. When they approached the ship in a boat, sailors discovered that the ship's deck was all rotten. To their horror, they found 20 skeletons on board that ship. All things and equipment were in order and on their places. The skeletons were "seated" in a usual way too, as it should be on boat a sailing vessel. Documents revealed that the ship left a port in New Zealand 23 years ago and headed for London with a cargo of wool and frozen meat. What happened to the vessel remains a mystery... However, such encounters with floating graveyards or the ships that were abandoned for unknown reasons, are not so rare in the ocean.
They say that such encounters may occur up to 300 times a year. Such vessels are known as "The Flying Dutchman." A legend says that a sailor swore in a heavy storm to go around a cape, even though it would take him eternity. For his pride, he was doomed to stay in the wild sea for good.
In 1935, Soviet academician M.V. Shuleykin put forward a version that tried to explain the mystery of "The Flying Dutchman." He suggested that there were particular infrasonic vibrations appearing during storms and strong winds on the crests of waves.
The academician called this phenomenon the "voice of the sea." Infrasound can be spread at considerable distances, and, as shown by experiments of French scientists, it is harmful to all living beings ... Weak vibrations cause motion sickness; medium ones cause all internal organs to vibrate, which may lead to heart failure. The crew may panic in such moments, some may even jump overboard to their death. There are other versions about the mysterious phenomenon, but none of them has been confirmed yet.
Yuri Suprunenko
Yoki