Scientists are puzzled by the “dozens” of giant holes at the bottom of the lake

“They’re in deeper waters… and they weren’t known before, as far as we know.”

Hole up

There are “dozens” of holes lining the floor of Lake Michigan, and scientists are confused about why they’re there.

like Live Science ReportsResearchers at a Great Lake conservation area are less confident than ever about strange holes after surveying the lake floor using a submersible robot.

The strange craters were first discovered two years ago during a survey by the Wisconsin Coastal Shipwreck Sanctuary (WSCMS), which covers a protected area in Lake Michigan known to be home to at least 36 shipwrecks.

With the help of NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, the sanctuary’s scientists have now been able to get a closer look at the holes — but they still have a lot of questions.

“Any kind of new discovery in the Great Lakes is exciting,” said Ross Green, a marine archaeologist at the reserve. Live Science. “But these features are really notable, they exist in deep waters, and they were not known before, as far as we know.”

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Coincidentally, Brendon Billaud, a local shipwreck hunter, told the site that he also encountered the holes in the bottom of Lake Michigan around the same time as the refuge seekers while searching for a wrecked cargo ship. The holes were found to be between 20 and 40 feet deep.

“There were dozens of them in our search network,” the shipwreck enthusiast recounted. “Most of them were 500 to 1,000 feet in diameter and had irregular shapes.”

Although it took some time to compile all their data, Billaud, Greene and their colleagues eventually reached out to scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to plan an expedition. This mission was finally carried out last August. Live Science He notes, when a remotely operated submersible was sent hundreds of feet deep into Lake Michigan to examine the holes.

In an interview conducted earlier this year with Milwaukee Journal SentinelThe first foray revealed nearly 40 “perfect little circles” containing shrimp and other marine wildlife “doing their thing in the dark out there,” said Steve Roberge, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientist.

As of now, the prevailing theory is that the holes are a type of crater, but scientists and ship hunters are reluctant to definitively name them by that name until they can conduct more research.

“We will be exploring it for years to come,” Green said. Live Science.

More about underwater discoveries: NASA insists it did not do much work on the Titanic submarine that exploded, killing its crew