Underwater Anomaly Discovered at Andros

Two Enigmas of Andros Island Solved But Another Genuine Mystery Is Discovered:

The Andros Anomaly

—Copyright 2003 by G. Little & Lora Little— Reproduction of text or photos is strictly prohibited.

On March 14, 2003 we returned to Andros Island with the sole intention of solving the mystery of Rebikoff's "e." The enigmatic formation, shaped like the cursive letter e, was first reported by Russian oceanographer Demetri Rebikoff in 1969. It lies off the northwestern shore of Andros, but has only been seen by a few people since that time. Several Charles Berlitz books have included a photo of the underwater formation and Berlitz, as well as numerous others, has asserted that it couldn't be natural. Combined with the many unusual circular formations found all along southwestern Andros, Rebikoff's e has long been used as evidence that underwater manmade structures are present in the area.

In February we went to Andros (the largest Bahama island) as part of the A.R.E.'s Search for Atlantis Project. While I (Greg) do not view the idea of Atlantis as an ancient technological culture that surpasses the present, I do see real evidence indicating that a maritime civilization probably existed in the Bahamas during the last Ice Age. This culture, I now believe, was an island empire that stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the Mediterranean—just as Plato said. It was far more advanced than the stone age culture that emerged after some form of catastrophic event occurred sometime around 9500 B.C. In support of this contention, we have recently found solid evidence in recent scientific literature of this disaster. The timeframe of this disaster appears to coincide with the event that formed the Carolina Bays. Andrew Collins' book, Gateway to Atlantis, speculated that the Carolina Bays were formed when a series of comet fragments struck the eastern seaboard of the U.S. Collins asserts that the extensive civilization existing in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico circa 10,000 B.C. was completely destroyed by tsunamis and literal blasting from the comets. This civilization was, according to Collins, the island empire of Atlantis that Plato discussed. Our search of Andros was an attempt to determine if we could find any traces of this Ice-Age civilization by investigating—on-site—the underwater anomalies long-reported around the island. These anomalies included a concentric set of three stone circles in southwest Andros, other stone circles along the western coast of Andros, and Rebikoff's "e," located in extreme northwest Andros.

Andros

In a prior posting on the Ancient Mysteries website, we presented our findings on the "concentric stone circles of Andros." We feel certain we found the formation in extreme southwestern Andros. But as it turned out, it is clearly a natural formation. During that trip we were able to view Rebikoff's e from the air, but the seaplane that landed and picked us up on the last day wasn't prepared to take us to the enigmatic e, despite having all the necessary information prior to landing. (The pilot failed to refuel his plane.)

Thanks to Bill Donato

Finding the e formation from the air was made easy by earlier investigators. In the late 1990s, archaeologist Bill Donato conducted two "Project Alta" investigations at Bimini, but he also included two aerial surveys in his investigations. The aerial surveys consisted of a fly around of coastal Andros. In his reports Donato included GPS readings of the formation. We had little trouble finding the formation due to Donato's work. For those interested, both of Donato's extensive reports can be viewed at the A.R.E. library at Virginia Beach. They are maintained in a reserve room and cannot be checked out. However, they contain a host of interesting photos and other information.

Finding the "e" on Water

We began our most recent trip to Andros by obtaining more aerial GPS readings on the location of the e, and then headed south along the coast to obtain more video of the circles. After landing in North Andros, we quickly secured the services of a boat and guide. At 6:30 am the next morning we took the boat to Red Bay and began the search. Despite having 4 different GPS readings on the e from the air (none of which were identical), and having two different GPS handhelds on the boat, finding it proved very difficult. High winds and waves of 2-3 feet played havoc with visibility and movement. It took 30 minutes on a 50 mph speedboat to reach the general area and the winds and waves forcefully swept us around.

After 20 minutes of looking, we spotted a large dark formation on the bottom. Greg jumped in the water with snorkeling gear and a camera. The water was about 12 feet deep. The formation turned out to be a perfect dark circle—one we had spotted near the enigmatic e formation. The circle was formed by seaweed and sponges. Only an inch or so of sand was on the limestone seabed.

Disappointed but still hopeful, we began looking again by averaging the various GPS coordinates from the plane. After 20 more minutes of being tossed around by the waves, we found it. The e-shape was clearly visible from the surface despite the heaving water. Greg plunged into the 12-foot-deep water and quickly went to the bottom. The bottom was completely flat and consisted of mostly white sand and limestone. The e, about 40 feet across, was an unusual formation of seaweed. Nothing of interest appeared to be under the inch of sand where the seaweed grew, but the unusual shape remains intriguing.

While we had hopes that the formation would turn out to be a structure, we knew from visiting numerous other underwater circles at Andros that it would most likely turn out to be seaweed. Our aerial surveys had shown every conceiveable shape under the waters of the Bahamas. We had seen X, G, ?, and even swastica shapes in various places. Nevertheless, we were pleased that a 35-year-old mystery had been solved.

Discovery of The Andros Anomaly

This trip to Andros was planned to be short and intense. It was Saturday March 15 when we found the e formation, and we had chartered a plane back to Ft. Lauderdale the next day at 1:00 pm. The weather had been bad on the way in and severe thundershowers pounded Andros as soon as we returned to our room Saturday afternoon. Weather forecasts for the next day showed that we had a small window of good weather to leave, and we had every intention of returning home. In addition, we planned the trip knowing that the Iraq war could begin soon.

Saturday evening, during a break in the torrential rains and winds, a light knock was heard on our door. (We were the only "guests" present in the entire "inn.") Greg answered the door and was met by 61-year-old Dino Keller, an American who had heard about what we were doing. He was 61-years old, and had been a dive operator on Andros until he sold his business several years ago. He had been the owner of Underwater Adventures, Inc., and and owned several dive operations including Nassau @ Coral Harbour 1979-1984, St. Thomas 1984-1986, and Andros 1989-2000. He is now the Vice-President of WAVETV Network, the only water-based television network, due to go operational soon.

Initially, he was convinced that we had to be looking for gold and treasure. In fact, we had to admit that some of those who had been involved in the Bimini research were motivated by a quest for gold. But showing the man our research interests on paper and other photos seemed to produce a genuine interest on his part. After an hour of discussion, he became convinced that we had no interest in treasure hunting.

He told us that he had been to the Bimini Road several times in the past. He said that he didn't know what the road was, but that it was unique in his diving experience. He had never encountered anything like it anywhere else—UNTIL 1992!

"It's Much Larger than the Bimini Road!"

He then told us that he had seen something like the Bimini Road at Andros. It appeared, he said, after Hurricane Andrew blasted the island in 1992. He had only seen the formation once from the upper deck of his dive boat. The water he said, had been perfectly clear that day and he could see the stones plainly. It was, according to him, "much larger than the Bimini Road." We then began asking a series of questions, all of which he quickly answered. He hadn't swam, or snorkeled, nor dived it. The reason was that it was in water too shallow for divers on a commercial trip. In addition, it had nothing of interest for divers to see—except the stones. He told us that he had never told anyone else about it. It was "filed away," he said, "because all dive masters like to keep their best places secret." When Greg asked him why it was kept a secret if he never intended to use it as a dive site, he simply replied that "dive operators just keep such things secret."

Gradually he told us the general area of the formation. It could be accessed from shore by going through deep water and over a reef. It was between two reefs which he thought might be 100 yards or so from shore. Because he had only seen it once, he wasn't precisely certain where it was, but he added that it should be easy to find. He said that he might come by the next morning to take us to the general area, but he wasn't sure. We went to bed that night sort of stunned. The man had seemed credible, but it just didn't seem possible.

The next morning it became clear that the man wasn't going to come by. We quickly walked to the shore area he had indicated, carrying our cameras and video equipment and Greg's skorkeling gear. The weather was getting bad. In fact, not long after we finished, a violent storm hit the island that knocked out the electricity.

Despite some anxiety about swimming out so far alone, Greg was determined to at least look at the area. Wearing a snorkeling safety vest and other gear, Greg began by swimming out 100 yards, then 200 yards, eventually getting to 400 yards or so. The water was clear and about 25-feet deep. A powerful tide pushed water toward the shore and was worsened by a wind tossing waves in the same direction. The bottom showed scattered debris but was basically flat and sandy. With time fast passing, Greg decided to move to a different shore area and go straight out over the reef. After struggling out to 150 yards or so, the current became very strong. It was an effort to make any progress. But the water became shallower and shallower. And suddenly, Greg was on top of something amazing.

Description of the Andros Anomaly

What was found seems to be best described as a "platform" about 100-150 feet wide. The width is consistent. The water's depth over it is a uniform 12 feet. Thus, it appears that the platform is 12 to 15 feet in height from the bottom. On top of the platform are gigantic, perfectly smooth, mostly rectangular blocks. A few stones on the side edges of the platform appeared to be between one to two feet thick. There were three sections, like three distinguishable belts running down the length, that clearly formed the platform's width. The sections were usually formed by three-to-five giant stones. The stones were not measured, but some appeared to be as large as 30 by 50 feet. A few seemed bigger, however, some of the rectangular ones were somewhat smaller. Greg swam an unknown distance down the platform's length, never reaching the ends. Greg estimates the length he swam at less than half a mile. He was able to take 24 pictures. (A few of them are reproduced here. However, we have embedded type and identifying features on the images. All of them are copyrighted and will be used in a forthcoming book and video, thus, we cannot grant permission for reproduction of redistribution of any of the images or this text.)

Some of the stones were cracked and many were completely covered with less than an inch of sand. Here and there coral was beginning to grow, but it was obviously quite young coral. The seams between most of the stones had filled with sand and seaweed was growing in them making the edges and corners quite visible. Sand had also filled various cracks with seaweed popping through. Some sections of the stones had been cracked and broken forming what at first glance appears to be fitted stones. But a close inspection showed that the smaller broken stones seemed to be broken from a much larger block. The sides of the many of the visible stones on the top edge of the platform are beginning to show a "pillow-like" shape possibly due to erosion. Our tentative term for this formation, whatever it is, is The Andros Anomaly. We may be seeing how something like the Bimini Road forms. We could be looking at an unusual natural reef. But it could be something else.

Possible Explanations

When we returned to Memphis on March 16 we immediately began researching reef formation, underwater geology, and other relevant information. We also contacted Doug Richards and made inquiries of a few marine geologists including the USGS. Initially we thought that the formation had a resemblance to what is called a "flat reef," but that does not appear to be the case. In addition, several other types of reefs, including shelf reefs and banded reefs have been examined. None of these appear to approach the appearance of the anomaly. Eastern Andros has several "sea mounts" in the mile-plus deep Tongue of the Ocean, but they are quite dissimilar to the Andros Anomaly. Finally, the "beach rock" theory merits some investigation. Louisiana State University has the largest digital library and catalog of beach rock in the world. Their library has over 1000 photos of different beach rock formations. Not one of their on-line photos resembles the Andros Anomaly. Yet we have not eliminated any explanations of the formation. On March 27 we heard from a university-based geologist who believed that it could be similar to some of the karst formations in the Bahamas. We have gathered quite a few photos of karst (irregular limestone with sinkholes and caves) from the Bahamas and Andros, but the complete smoothness of the anomaly and the alignments of the platform blocks seem to defy the definition of karst.

Back to Andros

Due to this unexpected discovery, we now plan to return to Andros. Our time that last day was extremely limited. We were unable to measure the formation and because Greg had to return to shore to change film in the underwater camera,, all we could do was shoot one roll.

The current plan is as follows. Within a week or two, we will return to Andros. Utilizing scuba gear, we plan to measure the entire formation and photograph all of it as well as make a complete video of the entire structure. We also plan on carefully examining the sides to assess the substructure. We will not disturb any of the coral or remove any sand. In addition, we plan on visually surveying the area around the platform to look for any stones or materials that could have been swept off the structure. To read the April 21 Press Release detailing the finds on the return trip to Andros, click here.

Video to be Shown at the October Atlantis Rising Conference

The A.R.E.'s Annual "Egypt Conference" has been named "Ancient Mysteries: Atlantis Rising" this year. The conference is scheduled for October 9-12, 2003. One of the things we plan to present at the conference is our full findings on the Andros Anomaly. Assuming that we obtain all measurements and video of the Anomaly, we will show all the pictures and video. In addition, we will present the video and pictures from our investigation on the circles as well as the circles at Bimini.

Prince Miyah (his real name) on left with Greg Little at Rebikoff's e.