golden orb Alaska
Definition
A nickname given to a mysterious, gold-colored, dome-shaped biological specimen, approximately 10 cm in diameter, discovered on a seamount in the Gulf of Alaska at a depth of 3,300 meters during a 2023 NOAA Ocean Exploration expedition. It was later identified as the basal disc (anchoring base) of the giant deep-sea anemone Relicanthus daphneae.
Examples
Deep-sea explorers struck deep-sea gold when they unearthed the golden orb Alaska, only to learn it was an anemone's stylish pedestal.
Forget pirate doubloons; the real treasure from Alaska's depths was the golden orb Alaska, an anemone base that fooled us all into thinking sci-fi was real.
The golden orb Alaska had Twitter buzzing with theories—from alien eggs to lost Atlantis bling—until science revealed its anemone origins.
Anchored firmly to a rocky seamount, the golden orb Alaska proved that even deep-sea real estate comes with a golden touch.