Buzz
Ponds are often charming, but rarely extraordinary. Yet, some are truly bizarre. From ghostly water bodies to an Australian golf course with sharks lurking beneath the surface, these ten puddles defy the norm.
10. The Ghost Ponds with Resurrected Plants
Ghost ponds aren't mystical bodies of water haunted by spirits, but rather, they refer to ponds that have been buried, often under farmland. While much of the water has vanished, the plants that originally grew there remain preserved beneath the surface.
A team from University College London discovered that approximately 600,000 ghost ponds are hidden beneath England's countryside. By 2017, they excavated three of these ponds and successfully revived seeds from eight aquatic plant species. Remarkably, some of these seeds had been dormant for as long as 150 years.
Taking their research even further, the team spent six months reviving a ghost pond, turning it into a vibrant ecosystem filled with numerous plant species. This groundbreaking study not only demonstrated that lost ponds could be resurrected but also hinted at the exciting possibility of rediscovering rare or even extinct plants—and in a true zombie-like twist, reviving them.
9. The Turtle Piggy Bank
Omsin, a green sea turtle, had a rather extraordinary life. For years, she swam around in a pond in Thailand, a place that seemed straight out of a dream. People often visited the pond to toss coins in the water while making wishes. This tradition likely inspired her caretakers to name her 'Omsin,' which means 'piggy bank' in Thai.
The whole situation was undeniably cute. However, unbeknownst to everyone, it was escalating into a disaster. True to her name, Omsin began swallowing the coins. By the time the veterinarians realized something was wrong, the problem had worsened. She had consumed so many coins that their combined weight was affecting her ability to swim and even caused her shell to crack.
The endangered turtle was rushed into emergency surgery. During the operation, the full extent of her coin-eating habit came to light—Omsin had ingested over 900 coins. Fortunately, the veterinarians managed to remove the small fortune from her stomach. Sadly, Omsin passed away after a second surgery to repair her damaged intestines.
8. The Mystery of Alien Polka Dots
In the spring of 2013, a cold snap triggered a snowstorm in Eden, New York. Several nearby ponds froze, but one morning, a resident noticed something peculiar. It looked as if a giant cookie cutter had been used to carve out round shapes from the frozen surface.
None of the locals had ever seen anything like this, and wild theories quickly circulated on social media. The most entertaining suggestion was that aliens, fish flatulence, or even wandering elephants were behind the strange polka dot pattern.
The true explanation is likely tied to a natural phenomenon. Some ponds are fed by warm springs. As the warmer water rises to the surface, it can melt the ice in certain spots, creating the curious circular marks. Another plausible explanation is that gases produced by decomposing plants at the bottom of the pond bubbled up to the surface, forming the dotted design.
7. Custom Frog Ponds
Not all ponds are the result of geological or human activity. The world's largest frog is also an enthusiastic builder of swimming pools for its entire family. A Goliath frog's body can reach 13.38 inches (34 cm) in length and weigh 7.27 pounds (3.3 kg). Researchers have recently documented, for the first time, how these frogs move rocks nearly as heavy as themselves to create ponds for their offspring.
These small ponds, which mark the first documented instance of nest-building behavior in African amphibians, are dug beside fast-moving rivers. The pools offer a safe refuge for frog eggs (sometimes up to 3000) and tadpoles, protecting them from predators and swift currents.
Goliath frogs are also dedicated parents in other ways. They protect the nest throughout the night. While it's unclear which parent does what, local hunters believe that the male builds the pond while the female stands guard. Regardless, scientists believe that the immense physical effort involved in their breeding cycle could be the key reason behind the frogs' remarkable size.
6. The Alligator Popsicles
In 2018, George Howard, the manager of Swamp Park in North Carolina, which included an alligator sanctuary, visited a frozen pond one chilly morning. There, he noticed something unusual: several dark stumps were protruding through the ice, and upon closer inspection, he realized they were alligators.
At first, Howard mistook the dark shapes for tree stumps, but soon the horrifying realization dawned on him. The shapes had teeth. They were alligator snouts. Believing that all his gators had perished overnight, frozen solid, the park manager turned to Google to uncover the truth behind the bizarre sight.
It turns out, none of the alligators had died. Howard’s research revealed a strange survival tactic used by the reptiles. When they sense freezing weather, the alligators keep their nostrils above the water and intentionally allow their jaws to freeze in place. While they can't move, this allows them to breathe until the ice thaws.
The alternative to this survival strategy is grim. Some alligators have been found attempting the method too late, when the pond had already frozen completely. Unable to break through the ice, they tragically drowned.
5. The Coffin in the Pond
In 2019, a construction team was hired to renovate a pond at a golf course in Tetney, England. As they worked, they never anticipated uncovering a coffin from the mud. It wasn’t a case of a funeral home dumping a casket on the course; rather, the golf course had been built on an ancient burial site, and the pond contained a rare, 4,000-year-old grave.
The coffin was enormous and heavy. Made from a hollowed-out oak trunk, inside it was a set of human remains, a remarkably preserved axe, and a bed of plants. While it's difficult to extract much information from someone who lived so long ago, this burial provided a few significant clues.
The person was buried beneath a mound of gravel, a burial practice reserved for influential members of Bronze Age society. The presence of the axe further indicated that the deceased was part of the elite. The plant bed, consisting of moss, hazelnuts, juniper, and leaf buds, suggested that they died in late spring.
4. The Brain Blob
A few years ago, Stanley Park in British Columbia, Canada, hosted a BioBlitz, an event where scientists and nature enthusiasts alike had 24 hours to explore the park and catalog as many species as possible. While surveying a pond, someone stumbled upon something curious in the water.
It looked like a brain. Or, as some described it, a 'giant peeled lychee fruit.' This blob was brownish and jiggly. Fortunately, it wasn't an actual brain, but a rare animal colony. Known as bryozoans, these creatures begin as a single invertebrate that multiplies on its own, eventually forming a colony of thousands, all bound together by a sticky protein.
Following this discovery, more 'brain blobs' appeared in the pond over time. This was unusual because these creatures are difficult to find and have never been spotted outside the warm eastern region of the Mississippi River. However, considering the pond is teeming with algae and plankton (the blobs’ preferred food) and the park is warming due to global climate change, researchers weren’t overly surprised.
3. The Golf Course Sharks
In the 1990s, trying to retrieve a lost golf ball from the ponds at Carbrook Golf Club was not a good idea. Located southeast of Brisbane, Australia, the neatly manicured course didn’t feature graceful koi fish in its ponds. Instead, one of the ponds was home to sharks.
How the sharks ended up there remains a mystery. However, it is believed that the bull sharks, famous for their ability to thrive in both saltwater and freshwater, likely arrived at the course after heavy floods broke the banks of nearby rivers and inundated the golf course.
The artificial pond spanned 2,300 feet (700 meters) long and reached a depth of 1,250 feet (380 meters). For two decades, these sharks called the golf course home, growing up to 9.8 feet (3 meters) long. They even became the unofficial mascots of the club.
Then, they vanished. Another flood in 2013 may have allowed some of the sharks to escape back into the rivers, but since the last sighting of the sharks in 2015, it’s possible that the remaining ones simply perished and sank to the bottom.
2. A Pool with Syrup-Like Water
While ponds may vary greatly, their water typically has the same consistency as tap water. However, one pool does things differently. In 1961, an expedition to Antarctica discovered a shallow pond with water so salty that it flowed more like thick syrup than regular H2O.
This pond, later named Don Juan Pond, remains a mystery. Scientists know some fascinating facts, such as the pond's ability to stay liquid at -58°F (-50°C), thanks to the nearly 50% concentration of pure salt in its composition. However, many questions remain unanswered. The origin of the pond is still debated, as is the source of the salt and the reason for the pond’s unusual chemical purity.
1. A Forest
It might seem hard to believe that a forest could fit inside a pond, let alone be concealed so thoroughly that no one would notice. But this is exactly what occurred in 2007 in Arnheim, Michigan. In need of material for a highway construction project, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) chose to dredge a pond on a nearby farm.
The diggers had only reached a depth of 15 feet (4.5 m) when they first encountered a tree. Before long, they were pulling up more trees than mud. Experts who examined the site had never witnessed so many ancient trees together. They observed that clumps of intertwined trees, sometimes as many as a dozen, were being brought to the surface. Some of the logs measured 20 feet (6 m) long and 2 feet (60 cm) thick.
This strange discovery raised an important question: what could have buried this forest so deeply? Whatever the cause, it was likely a singular, catastrophic event. The leading theory points to the last glacier that passed through the region 10,000 years ago. It may have either gathered the trees from elsewhere and transported them to what is now Arnheim, or it could have flattened an entire forest in the area.
