Dreadful Depths: 35: Deep-Sea Pictures That Triggered Our Submechanophobia
If there’s one thing that movies such as Jaws, Titanic, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon perfectly capture, is just how unbelievably terrifying the ocean can be. But not just the ocean. Anything that has to do with being surrounded by an eerie body of water can be deeply unsettling.
But we’re sure we didn’t really need to tell you that. A cursory glance across the Internet shows that most people find the deep blue rather foreboding. This fact likely explains the origin of the name people have given to this fear, submechanophobia.
If you look it up, the explanation you’ll get is that it’s a fear of seeing submerged manmade objects buried in water. A concept that has inspired the focus of this article. So, join us as we look at some eerie images that are sure to awaken the submechanophobia within you.
The Cabin of a Sunken Ship
We mentioned the Titanic in the intro, and this creepy image gives us a good idea of what the cabins of sunken ships must look like. This was part of the Aachen, a 19th-century steamship located in the Baltic Sea.
As you can see, the cabin has been completely warped by its time spent on the bottom of the sea. The metal has rusted beyond belief. The wooden planks and furnishings are rotten and waterlogged, with thick clumps of algae hanging everywhere. But surprisingly, the air pocket remains.
A Bench Under the Sea
At first glance, this next image evokes the thought that you’re looking at an old, sunken cave beneath the waters. A cave that – for whatever reason – had a bench placed within it. Well, we’re sure the more observant folk could tell this is no cave.
In fact, what you are looking at is a sunken park. Diving enthusiasts may know about it since it’s quite a famous spot for daring scuba divers. The park is located in Austria and is only submerged under water for part of the year in spring.
Underwater Staircase
Have you heard of the song Staircase to Heaven by Led Zeppelin? Well, we’re sure this image of an underwater staircase is the complete opposite of what you might imagine that looks like. While the image looks disturbing, the story behind it is rather interesting.
This was part of the MV Karwela, a passenger ferry that was first built in 1957, changing ownership over time before being purchased by the Gozo Tourism Association. Gozo is part of the Maltese islands. The ship was scuttled in 2006 to create an artificial reef.
A Sunken Dock
Think back to lines of poetry or stories taken from ancient myths, and you’ll notice how often lakes make an appearance. A detail that is not surprising once you gaze across lakes as picturesque as this one. But there’s more to this particular one.
Focus your eyes, and you’ll see the remains of a wooden dock that lies just below the surface of the lake. Occurrences such as these are not too uncommon, with causes ranging from floods, soil erosion, or particularly heavy rainfalls or monsoons.
Abandoned Power Plant
When thinking about what to expect from a work of fiction set in a dystopian world, images of giant abandoned metallic structures are almost a prerequisite. We just seem to have an endless fascination for them and an urge to explore them.
But sometimes, these buildings are just a bit too creepy to enter, like this abandoned power plant in New Orleans. As you can see, the top portions are covered in graffiti, but the lower you go, the less you see.
A Ladder into the Deep
There is an inexplicable relationship that exists between surreal beauty or tranquillity and fear-inducing. A concept that’s perfectly portrayed in this image of an aged ladder that runs down a flooded quarry. It resembles something out of a scary movie.
As you can likely guess, there was no real information available for this scene or where the photo was taken. All we could find were dozens of warnings made by divers advising people to never explore sunken quarries due to how dangerous they can be.
The Chain of an Anchor
While there is nothing particularly scary about the reality of what this image is, our minds cannot help but think up nightmarish scenes. This fascinating yet unsettling chain is attached to an anchor that holds a ship firmly in place.
Follow the length of the chain all the way to the top, and you will notice the almost ghostly outline of a ship visible through the cloudy water. This image is another excellent example of something that is both enchanting and unsettling.
A Mine Shaft
Our journey now takes us deep into the Ural Mountains of Russia – a mountain range used as a conventional boundary mark between Asia and Europe. Located within the mountain were the remains of another abandoned mine shaft. What exactly they were mining, we don’t know.
The strange bluish-green color you see in the center is the reflection of murky water that seems to have filled the shaft. What remains of the mining equipment left below is covered in algae and, no doubt, various chemicals used in mining operations.
Sunken Air Force Carrier
When you think of Air Force carriers, those gigantic ships that carry fighter planes, you would never imagine that anything could possibly take them down. Well, sometimes it happens. Such was the case for the retired U.S. carrier, Big Dawg.
Resting along the coast of Florida, you will find the rusted remains of the ship that was scuttled in 2021. The ship was scuttled for the same reason as the one we read about earlier; to serve as an artificial reef.
Underwater Museum
If you ever find yourself in the city of Townville on the Northeastern coast of Queensland in Australia, do yourself a favor and look into their art exhibits. Particularly the Museum of Underwater Art, or the MOUA as it’s also known.
The MOUA contains a series of underwater pieces of art aimed at promoting conservation efforts to protect the ever-threatened Great Barrier Reef. And while they have commissioned many beautiful pieces such as this one, there is still something just a little unsettling about it.
The Size of a Ship’s Propeller
Perhaps part of what makes the ocean, or in fact any sizable body of water, so disconcerting and unnerving is the lack of light. The way the shadows take on shapes with each shift of light forces your mind to wonder whether something creepy lurks nearby.
This image is interesting for two reasons. One, it shows just how large a ship’s propeller is compared to the diver, and the second thing is that it shows how the play of shadow and light can shape something simple into something almost monster-like.
German Water Ride
While we have spoken at length about how the great deep is a source of terrors, it is also a source of endless entertainment. Especially for those who see the sea and other bodies of water as an opportunity for fun.
This spiraling whirlpool is an activity attraction in the Belantis theme park in the German city of Leipzig. Known as the Fluch des Pharao, the pool is just one part of a 31-meter-tall ride that travels from the top of a pyramid to the pool below.
Sunken Ruins of an Old School
It is always fascinating to see the ways in which buildings change after they are abandoned and then reclaimed by nature. This aerial image shows us the remaining foundations of a school at the very bottom of Dale Hollow Lake.
The lake lies between the U.S. states of Tennessee and Kentucky, and this foundation is all that remains of the town of Willow Grove. The town was purchased by the government in 1942 and submerged following the completion of a nearby reservoir.
Underwater Warning Sign
Diving, and deep-sea or open-water diving, in particular, is not a water activity without its risks. The more experienced a diver seems to become, the more it seems that they want to push their boundaries further. Sometimes to dire results.
Sitting in front of the diver here is a bucket filled with sand to weigh it down and affixed with a warning sign. The sign is placed there to warn divers to not explore certain areas that have proven to be too dangerous and life-threatening.
Remains of a Submerged Brazilian Town
There are times we are reminded that just because we are on land does not mean that we’re safe from high water levels. Near the Brazilin municipality of Petrolândia, in the state of Pernambuco, stands a lone church surrounded by water.
The entire town, including the church, was submerged and washed away following the completion of a hydroelectric power plant. While the event is well known to Brazilians, it is a bit difficult to find out much about it in English sources.
A Research Reactor in Missouri
Sometimes it’s not the water itself that is frightening but the thing that needs it. This mess of metallic limbs is the body of a research reactor that belongs to the University of Missouri. It’s also the source of that eerie blue light.
The blue light and glow you see around the reactor is caused by particles that are traveling faster than light. The color, known as Cherenkov radiation, is only visible through water or a similar clear medium and is used for many purposes.
A Pump Drain
There is just something about this lake that instantly reminds us of the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Whether it’s because of the murky and green color of the water or because of the hole in the center, we cannot say.
All we do hope for is that nothing swims up from it. The hole is apparently part of something called a pump drain, which prevents the lake from overflowing from a build-up of water. Similar to the drains in your basin.
Remains of an Old Plane
While modern planes are an incredible feat of human ingenuity and technical skill, they are not immune to errors or faults. You’ve likely seen many films where unresponsive planes were directed toward bodies of water for emergency landings to save the passengers.
Well, we are not sure what the story is behind this sunken and ruined plane, but it’s certainly an unnerving image. While it does allow us to see what would happen to a sunken plane, we have no desire to swim near it.
Abandoned Naval Warehouse
Though this might look like a rather odd fishpond based on the surrounding buildings, it is no fishpond at all. The fish and the dirty water they are swimming in are actually next to an abandoned warehouse that belongs to an old naval base.
Besides knowing that the naval base is located in Philadelphia, we really don’t know that much more about it. We would especially like to know why or how so many goldfish ended up there. Did someone put them there? If so, why?
The Stern of the Titanic
When it comes to tragedies at sea, few are as iconic as the sinking of the Titanic. And few could likely match the harrowing experience it must have been for its passengers. Something this next image can only hint at.
What you are looking at is the actual eroded stern of the Titanic, which sunk over a century ago. The ghostly and corroded remains of the once great 270-meter-long ship only add to the sadness of that tragic historical event.
Horror Story of the Deep
When you think of horror movies, very few are as terrifying and disturbingly iconic as Chucky, thanks to its titular homicidal, possessed villain in the body of a doll. It’s safe to say that movie has terrified people for decades.
That makes us wonder just how shaken and horrified the diver who found this replica doll must have been when they saw it. The creepy doll appeared to have been chained to the remains of a structure lying at the bottom of a lake.
Underneath New York
Adding to the long list of things we tend to take for granted or things we are unaware of is how deep the foundation of a city can actually run. Most of us likely believe it ends just below the street level.
But that belief quickly vanishes when you remember that vast sewer lines run beneath the surface. This dark cave, for example, is located more than 16 stories [close to 70 meters] beneath the American state of New York. It’s a bit creepy.
Anchor Cables for a Floating Bridge
One thing we have noticed so far is that almost anything instantly becomes a lot more scary if you place it in a body of water. A fine example is this next picture of a floating marker on the water and a chain underneath it.
These cables are used to prevent floating or suspended bridges from swaying with the waves, which is a frightening thought by itself. So, while it’s not particularly chilling, knowing what it’s needed for suddenly makes it more unsettling than it should be.
The Deepest Shipwreck in the World
We’ve looked at a fair number of shipwrecks so far. But this next one is interesting for a different reason. These are the remains of the U.S.S. Samuel B. Roberts, a destroyer ship that was sunk in 1944 and only rediscovered in 2022.
If you are wondering why it took so long to find the old ship, it’s because the wreckage is regarded as the deepest shipwreck in the world. The ship is currently resting close to 7000 meters at the bottom of the Philippine Sea.
Hydroelectric Station Intake Chamber
Some of these pictures really look like they were taken straight from a horror movie, like this creepy and partially flooded metal box of a room. This is a penstock intake chamber that you would find in most hydroelectric stations.
A penstock chamber is part of a series of intake structures involved in the transfer of water from one container to the next. Once free of debris, the penstock chamber is used to control the flow of water that passes through it to the turbines.
A Pier at Night
Similar to bodies of water, the onset of nightfall and the darkness it brings can either be magical or terrifying. Combine a fear of the night with a fear of large bodies of water, and you have quite the nightmarish result.
This pier, complete with its inviting chairs, is, no doubt, quite the picturesque sight during the day and at sunset. But come nighttime, and it looks a lot less inviting and more like a place we’d like to stay away from.
Bellagio Hotel Fountain
Whether you adore them or don’t really care for them, there are numerous impressive, needlessly gigantic man-made structures in the world. For the next one, you might think you are only looking at a makeshift raft or a film set.
Well, both guesses are far from it. What you are looking at is a maintenance team working on the 3.4-hectare artificial lake on which the fountains of the Bellagio Hotel rest. Yes, this gigantic lake was built for a hotel’s fountain.
NASA’s Aquarius
While we have a faint idea of the kind of training astronauts go through, largely thanks to movies, there is obviously a lot more to it than we have seen. This eerie and haunted-looking structure is NASA’s Aquarius Research Station.
The research station is located on the coast of Florida and is used for physical and psychological condition training. Our guess here is that the confined container is meant to mirror the conditions of a space shuttle in deep space.
Reflection from a Yacht’s Undersea Light
It’s honestly amazing how little you need to do to instantly make something unsettling to look at. The example we want to show you to illustrate this is this docked yacht and the ghostly water beneath it. Only, there’s nothing ghostly about it.
The seemingly unnatural light is thanks to the yacht’s undersea lights located on the bottom of the ship. Such lights are normally used to create a light source for underwater sightseeing or to light up the area around the ship.
NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab
Getting back to NASA, this gigantic construction is the agency’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL). The NBL is another training facility for astronauts and is designed to prepare them for outer space tasks. The facility is located in Houston, Texas, and is part of the Sonny Carter Training Facility.
The water environment, combined with the astronauts’ specially designed buoyancy suits, is meant to simulate the effects of microgravity. While the facility certainly looks cool, the thought of training inside it is a bit frightening. Certainly not recommended for people with claustrophobia.
Fish Observatory
We would hazard a guess and assume when people hear the word ‘observatory,’ their minds first go to something with a big telescope aiming at the sky. But while astronomical observatories are the most famous, they are not the only kind.
‘Observatory’ basically stems from the word ‘observe,’ meaning they are not limited to only looking at the sky. This is a fish or oceanographical observatory on the island of Guam, with stairs that lead down to an underwater observation area.
What Comes with the Low Tide
This might not interest anyone who lives in or near a coastal town, but it’s crazy how high tides can get. It is also wild to think of what they might be hiding far below. This presumably long-abandoned canoe is proof of that.
Apparently, this forgotten vessel is only visible at low tide when the water drops low enough for it to touch the surface. What unsettles us about this entry is why it’s still there to this day. Is it cursed or something?
Train Found in Sunken Mine
We have had quite a few caves and mine-related creepy pictures so far, but we hope you don’t mind another one. We don’t know much about this story, but apparently, some adventurous divers found something quite interesting in this flooded mine.
While exploring the flooded mine, they came across the rusted and oddly small remains of an abandoned locomotive resting in a flooded mine that looked more like a sunken junkyard. We wonder whether the divers were as creeped out by it as we are.
Inside of Old Boathouse
Besides providing us with entertainment, movies and TV shows have also conditioned us to fear certain areas. An excellent example is the interior of this abandoned boathouse. Now, you’re probably scoffing at us and wondering what’s so scary about a boathouse.
Well, we’ll pose this question back to you in response. How many movies have you watched where something dodgy or horrific didn’t happen every time a character entered a boathouse? It happens a lot more often than you realize, right?
Remains of an Offshore Warehouse
Speaking of creepy, old, and abandoned buildings near water, this next one should be a treat. Floating on the surface of the Hudson River are the twisted and rotten remains of an old offshore warehouse. What it stored, we don’t know.
We can only speculate that the rows of wooden stumps sticking out of the water used to support a bridge that ran between. Even though the picture was taken during the day with lots of light, there’s just something unnerving about it.
One Creepy Pool
Spend any amount of time at a water park, and you’ll come across some truly bizarre and creative rides and slides. While the creators most likely did not intend for this water to look creepy, a lot of people on the internet would agree that that was the outcome.
And we can kind of understand why. Sure, at first, it doesn’t look that bad. But something about the way the seemingly dark water, the sharp corners of the slide, and how closed off the area is just makes us uncomfortable.
Hidden Crocodile
Okay, this next deserves a mention because not only is it super creepy, but also because it keeps getting misinterpreted online. We understand wanting to make your water park distinct and exciting, but adding fake crocodiles is a terrifying way to do it.
This brings us to the incorrection people have made about this post. No, the crocodile is not real; it’s a fake statue. And while that’s the truth, all it took was a misleading headline on other posts to trick people into believing it was real.
Behind-the-Scenes Look at Gorillaz Set Piece
We wouldn’t blame you if you had no idea what you were looking at. This weird-looking structure was actually a behind-the-scenes (or ‘BTS’) image of a set used for the cover art of the album Plastic Beach by the Gorillaz.
Now, truth be told, we really don’t get what people found so creepy about this one. It looks super interesting to us. Maybe they were referring to the music video where the prop appears, in which case, sure, it’s a little unnerving.
Wave Pool Pressure Chamber
Okay, this next one is interesting and inexplicably terrifying. This image was taken near the deep end of a wave pool, with a close-up shot of the pool’s pressure chambers. We don’t know about you, but how creepy are those chambers?
For those who don’t know what a wave pool is, it’s basically an indoor pool that can create and simulate the flow of waves. It does this by sucking water into the pressure chambers and raising and releasing them to create pressure.
The Jet Star Roller Coaster
When we first saw this image, we thought it was snapped straight from a horror movie. This is, or was, the Jet Star roller coaster that used to be a popular attraction at New Jersey’s Casino Pier in Seaside Heights.
Much of the amusement park was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy back in 2012, with the roller coaster being dragged out to sea. And while the roller coaster now belongs to the sea, it would be an incredible addition to a horror flick.
A Ghostly Shipwreck
During the course of this article, we learned that, apparently, less than 1% of shipwrecks have ever been found. This brings us to this chilling image of a sunken ship found somewhere along the Red Sea. Not much else is known about it.
It’s not just the ravaged remains of the ship that makes this image unsettling, but also the ominous cloud of fish hovering above it. Why are they there? And why are they shaped like a ghostly mirror image of the ship?
An Eerie Fishing Net
Speaking of unnatural-looking images or illusions, this aerial shot of a deployed fishing net is as magical as it is eerie. The outline of the massive fishing net creates the illusion of some kind of spectral monster lurking beneath the waves.
What’s also a bit shocking about this image is how big that net has to be if it’s attached to what looks like a commercial fishing ship. A likely terrifying sight, not just for us but also for the fish ensnared within.
The Bell Rock Lighthouse
Located off the Scottish coast of Angus stands the oldest sea-washed lighthouse in the world, the Bell Rock Lighthouse. It was built over 200 years ago on the Bell Rock reef and stands at about 35 meters above sea level.
At the time of and after its construction, the tower became infamous as one of the most challenging feats of engineering at the time. A fascinating fact that makes us wonder how dangerous it must have been for its engineers.
The Troll A Platform
While we are on the subject of offshore construction, our final entry takes us to the west coast of Norway. This is the Troll A platform, a natural gas/oil platform that is regarded as the second heaviest object ever moved in the world.
With an overall height of more than 470 meters and a weight of 1.2 million tons, the Troll A makes for quite an imposing sight. We can only imagine how unsettling it must be to not only stand atop it but also underneath it.