The edges of the world aren’t just breathtaking—they’re downright bizarre. These mysteries, found in places so remote they might as well be on another planet, blur the line between fascinating and flat-out spooky.
1. Waterfall of Blood
2. The Biggest Hole
Antarctica is home to the largest “hole” in the world. Known as a polynya, the phenomenon occurs when saltier water deeper in the ocean rises to the surface, melting sections of ice. This polynya opened in 2017, and at 78,000 square kilometers, is the size of Ireland.
3. The Bouvet Lifeboat
4. The Lake Vostok Monster Octopus (Organism 46B)
When Russian scientists breached a sub glacial lake for the first time in 2012, rumors swirled that they encountered a prehistoric and deadly shapeshifting octopus. Obviously this is untrue, and while the lake does contain microbial life, it is unlikely anything larger can survive the extreme conditions.
5. Wildlife
You might think that Antarctic waters are so cold that nothing can survive there, but that is not true. Beneath the ice, terrifyingly large spiders, worms, and squid survive with translucent skin, and dozens of other biological adaptations.
6. Screaming Ice
7. Potential UFOs
People love to scour Google Earth in search of possible UFOs, and many possibilities have been found. Here are a few. Obviously, these are all rocks, avalanches, or other such natural phenomena.
13. Inconsistent Gravity
14. The Wolf
When Europeans first landed on the Falkland Islands in the 1600s, they were shocked to find a wolf-like creature there. With no other mammals on the islands, the Falkland Islands wolf or warrah, seemed impossible. DNA evidence indicates that a common canid ancestor likely walked to the islands during the Last Glacial Maximum.
15. Mount Erebus
Mount Erebus is the world’s most remote active volcano, and due to the extreme conditions around it, scientists have struggled to visit it more than a handful of times. The peak contains organisms living off the volcano’s thermal activity, which are said to be the most unique organisms in the world.