Tales of the Bermuda Triangle

If you trace a line on a map connecting Bermuda, Puerto Rico, Miami, and back to Bermuda, you'll find the infamous triangle known for swallowing countless ships and aircraft over the centuries. But there's a new mystery lurking in this already enigmatic place – strange creatures lurking deep in the waters below, leaving behind bizarre clues of their existence.

Imagine descending into the depths in a submarine, venturing one thousand, two thousand, three thousand feet below the surface. As darkness surrounds you and the pressure mounts to over 1400 PSI, the weight feels like a grand piano squeezing every inch of your body. Finally, you reach your destination, and in the black void, you spot a bright green glow in the distance. As it approaches, the source of the glow grows bigger – the creature responsible for leaving peculiar circular markings on fish, dolphins, whales, and even other sharks. Behold, the cookie-cutter shark. Despite its small size, no longer than a bowling pin, this parasite attaches itself to other marine animals using its serrated teeth. With one bite, it fills its belly, detaches, and moves on, leaving behind a cookie-shaped mark as evidence of its rendezvous. Even submarines aren't safe from these bold little predators, so you wisely decide to continue your journey, avoiding any encounters that could jeopardize your vessel.

Further into the depths of the Bermuda Triangle, at twice the depth, you encounter the dragonfish. Unlike other deep-water dwellers, these creatures produce light in the infrared range, while other fish stick to blue and green. This gives the dragonfish a significant advantage as it provides itself with light that its prey cannot perceive. It's a truly unique creature, thriving in the depths. Another mysterious inhabitant is the vampire squid – not quite a vampire, squid, or octopus, but a unique species of its own. It boasts the largest eyes in proportion to body size of any animal on the planet. When threatened, it curls its arms around its body, essentially turning itself inside out. And let's not forget about the terrifying bobbit worm, buried in the sea floor, waiting for its prey. With lightning-fast movements, it snatches unsuspecting worms and fish, injecting them with venom before dragging them into its burrow to feast.

Descending even deeper, you encounter the tongue of the ocean, one of the deepest trenches in the Bermuda Triangle. Here, tiger sharks thrive, recognized by their darker gray stripes resembling those of a tiger. As the second-largest predatory shark species after the great white, tiger sharks have a voracious appetite, preying on marine mammals, smaller sharks, stingrays, and green turtles. If you ever come face to face with a tiger shark, remember that you can estimate its age by the prominence of its stripes – the younger the shark, the more pronounced the stripes.

Now, let's delve into the mysteries surrounding the Bermuda Triangle itself. Can we estimate the number of lost ships and airplanes? Have their disappearances resulted from human error or weather phenomena? Let's try to find out.

One curious story revolves around the SS Cotopaxi, a ship that vanished in 1925 on its journey from Charleston, South Carolina, to Havana, Cuba. Years later, a wreck was discovered 40 miles off Saint Augustine, Florida, known as the "bear wreck" due to the lack of precise identification. However, marine biologists eventually confirmed in January 2020 that it was, indeed, the missing SS Cotopaxi. How the ship reappeared and ended up there remains a mystery.

But let's address the term "Bermuda Triangle" itself. It doesn't appear on any official world map, as it isn't an officially recognized location. The boundaries of the Bermuda Triangle have never been agreed upon, with rough approximations ranging between 500,000 and 1.5 million square miles. In 1964, American author Vincent Gaddis popularized the term when describing a triangular region that supposedly destroyed numerous ships and planes without a trace in an article for Argosy magazine. The Bermuda Triangle has since become a legend, perpetuated through books, movies, and documentaries. However, it lacks concrete evidence and precise boundaries.

Legends and mysteries surrounding the Bermuda Triangle date back centuries. One such story involves the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, who reported strange phenomena while passing through the area in the late 1400s. He witnessed a huge flame crash into the ocean, followed by an unusual flashing light in the distance. He also experienced compass malfunctions, as have many sailors in the region throughout history.

Flight 19, a Navy plane that disappeared in 1945 during a routine mission, added fuel to the Bermuda Triangle legend. The planes' compasses malfunctioned, and they became disoriented. The initial blame was placed on pilot error, but due to public dissatisfaction, the cause was eventually changed to "causes or reasons unknown." Surviving pilot Bruce Gernon suggested he flew through an electronic fog that transported him through time, as his flight took significantly less time than expected.

While the Bermuda Triangle remains a place of mystery and countless disappearances, it's essential to separate fact from fiction. Theories range from methane eruptions and rogue waves to weakened magnetic fields and kinetic vampirism. Yet, scientists have not found conclusive evidence to support these claims. The Bermuda Triangle continues to captivate our imagination, but a logical and scientific understanding of the phenomena within this region remains elusive.

It's important to approach these mysteries with critical thinking and rely on verifiable facts rather than sensationalized stories. While the Bermuda Triangle remains a fascinating subject, seeking the truth requires careful examination of reliable sources and scientific research.

And that concludes our exploration of the mysteries surrounding the Bermuda Triangle.