anyone care to guess
 

what this is?

"Taken 29.8.64 Time 1.25 AM Lat. 59.08 Sth Long 105 West Depth 2250 Fathoms (3,900 meters)U.S. Eltanin "Taken 29.8.64 Time 1.25 AM Lat. 59.08 Sth Long 105 West

New Zealand Herald 5 December 1964

Puzzle Picture From Sea Bed

The American research ship Eltanin sailed into Auckland yesterday with a mysterious photo taken at 2250 fathoms 1000 miles west of Cape Horn.

The photograph, which to a layman shows something like a complex radio aerial jutting out of the mud bottom, was taken on August 29 by a submarine camera.
The camera is housed in a metal cylinder pulled along by a cable from the ship. It bounces along the sea bed taking pictures at regular intervals.
Dr Thomas Hopkins, senior marine biologist on board, who specialises in plankton studies, says the object could hardly be a plant.
"At that depth there is no light so photosynthesis could not take place and plants could not live.
"If it is some strange coral formation then no one on board has ever heard about it before."
Dr Hopkins, a graduate of the University of Southern California, said the ship's photographer had been thoroughly questioned on how he had developed the photograph.
However, everyone was certain the picture was not faked.
"I wouldn't like to say the thing is man-made because this brings up the problem of how one would get it there," he says.
"But it's fairly symmetrical and the offshoots are all 90 degrees
apart. This is why it has been argued over for so long."
It has been estimated the object is about two feet high.
The photograph is to be sent to several United States research
foundations for analysis, and Dr Hopkins will take prints back to the University of Southern California.
The Eltanin, owned by the Military Sea Transportation Service, is being used in part of the United States National Science Foundation Antarctic research programme.
It arrived in Auckland yesterday and will be here for six weeks for a refit.
Peter Hassall:

It's a sponge.

Scientific name is Cladorhiza concrescens.

It was first identified by noted marine zoologist Alexander Agassiz from a dredged sample in 1888.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Porifera
Class: Demospongiae
Order: Poecilosclerida
Family: Cladorhizidae
Genus: Cladorhiza

Hard to believe it's not man-made! :)

Geez we have scientists here. Man I sure wish I had enough brain matter left to look up these things.