Circle cork harbour

bogwalrus

Hi all. My buddy was flying his drone over cork harbour and spotted the follow circle in middle of harbour

. Any thoughts?

He said you never see the sea bed so just got lucky water was settled and not dark.

slowburner

One thing is certain about the marine environment: it is far more mobile than the terrestrial environment. Things are buried and exposed in varying cycles. Sands, tides, storms and seaweeds are in constant flux. The sea is a mobile environment and the added impacts of human activity in a harbour environment need to be considered - boats, anchors, ballast, buoys, dredging, netting/fishing etc etc. Is a man made enclosure likely to survive in this environment and be visible today? If it is from a time of lower sea level - as this has to be - then it seems highly unlikely to me that it would remain visible on the seabed surface today.

The other factor that makes me think it’s a natural feature or caused by something other than ancient human activity, is that the shape is defined by a light colour; the same shade as the surrounding waterscape. If it was archaeological, you would expect it to be a darker shade because it would have to include elements other than sand. It can also be seen truncating a sand ripple which definitely points to it being a recent feature. In other words, it was formed after the sand ripples.

I have no idea what else could have made this shape. Maybe some maritime expert could advise.

So on balance, I think it’s not archaeological.

bogwalrus

What you say makes complete sense.

I was trying to research was there ever a period where cork harbour was dry or very low sea levels.

Humans are drawn to patterns so likely this is just all natural like you say.

Thanks for taking time to assess.