Deep-Sea Golden Orb Finally Identified as Giant Sea Anemone Remnant
NOAA researchers solved the mystery of a two-mile-deep golden orb off Alaska, determining it is a fibrous, stinging-celled cnidarian remnant of a giant sea anemone Relicanthus daphneae; genome sequencing shows it is nearly identical to a 2021 specimen, suggesting the top of the anemone died or moved, leaving the orb attached to the rock.