Scientists get unexpected deep sea visitor when inspecting gas line 3,000ft underwater

The scary thing about diving into the deepest parts of the ocean is that there is so much you can't see, and you don't always know what you will meet.

And that is exactly what happened for a group of scientists in 2006, who dived down 3,000 feet in the ocean to explore a gas line.

They instead were met with something much more unexpected.

A video of the exploration has been shared online, showing scientists diving to inspect a gas line owned by Helix Energy Solutions.

Their work is suddently disturbed by a huge sea creature that moves into view on their camera on their Canyon Offshore ROV.

The scientists were greeted by a sperm whale who had joined them at 3,000 feet deep, with the creature being seen gliding past and heading deeper into the water.

Sperm whales can reach lengths of 60 feet and weigh as much as 125,000 pounds— about as much as a fully-loaded Boeing 737 airplane - so it's no wonder this one seems huge as it glides past the camera blocking everything else in view.

While the quality of the footage isn't amazing, a sperm whale is seen gliding past the camera and heading even deeper into the ocean. (Helix Energy Solutions)

The clip of the whale was shared on YouTube and has been shared on Twitter/X, with some pointing out how amazing it was that an animal can be found so deep in the ocean.

One person wrote: "Amazing how a biological creature with bone and organs can withstand the intense pressure that deep. We need to build machines with very thick metal to get that deep, and even then they are sometimes crushed like tin cans.

"Also The fact that whales can't breathe under water yet he is just cruising along the bottom 3000ft deep."

"It's crazy to think we haven't explored the deeeeeeeeeeeeep ocean. What's down there?" asked another.

A third person wrote: "Make us realize that we still have no idea from what is down there, like from the few creatures we have seen before on certain deep sea videos, I'm sure there is way more down there.

Sperm Whales have been known to dive down to below 3,000 feet, and have been spotted at oil rigs previously. (Pexels)

"Do we can fly to planets SO far away, but still can't go to the bottom of wherever it might be ?"

This isn't the first time that whales and deep sea divers have come face to face near an oil rig either, as it appears that whales like to pop up there now and then.

In Mexico, there can be as many as 3,000 endangered sperm whales found in the northern Gulf.

These animals are most often found in waters deeper than 3,000 feet, including the area around the Deepwater horizon drill rig near Mexico, but can end up being disturbed by noises and activities such as drilling or building.

Topics: Animals, Science, World News

Niamh Spence

Journalist.

@missnspence