This Island Is Doomed

[@Mathijsvand]

More than happy to help out with this, man! Working on this was an absolute joy and seeing it come to fruition has actually been one of the greatest joys of the year! Thank you so much for allowing me to help out with this 😀!

[@iAletho]

Thank you Mathijs! I couldn't have done this one without you! :)

[@Rixino__]

bro you are crazy

[@Mathijsvand]

I do stuff like this for work, I literally get sent PDF plans and am asked to provide coordinate lists based on them. Figuring this out was in all honesty easy as pie 😅

[@BlueMist1307]

That was so freakin' cool tbh

[@justsomerandomdudeontheint9859]

Thank you for helping with the Floater Leviathan video. I’ve been wanting a video on these guys for a while and seeing this thumbnail made my day :)

[@Domeda_Official]

tropical paradise my ass. i can't take two steps without a crab attacking me

[@iAletho]

They just want you to join the alien crab rave Domeda!

[@chenzo716]

@@iAletho (crab rave intensifies in the background)

[@cathygrandstaff1957]

Yeah but on the plus side you don’t have to go out for crab it comes to you. A little butter and it’s paradise again. Now where are those sea cows?

[@Crimtero]

I mean... in reality, you can step on those crabs and kill them easily. Go swim in the same waters as a reaper leviathan and tell me that island isn't paradise after.

[@MrBlack0950]

you are describing coconut crabs

[@Noah49295]

Something about the floating Islands: When you first enter the biome the PDA states "Erosion patterns on the landmasses suspended here suggest they once floated on the surface."

[@iAletho]

Exactly right Noah!

[@Skullguy-w7b]

😃😃😃

[@Sharded_]

I’m pretty sure that somewhere in a pda log it states that the reason they broke into pieces is that it got hit by the debris from Aurora (specifically the prawn bay, which you can find there as a wreckage) (although maybe I just made that up sometime, I’m not sure)

[@TheReZisTLust]

Wait... arent all land masses floating on the surface

[@Noah49295]

@@TheReZisTLust What is that supposed to mean?

[@MaxGoodwin-wz2rd]

You missed the fact a giant spaceship crashed a couple km away and would have caused a underwater shockwave large enough to weaken the brittle floating rock with a hole in it.

[@Bowiiihowdy]

The ship might have even caued the sudden degredation

[@matthewteague623]

I always assumed lifepod 19 actually punched RIGHT THROUGH the lagoon at the center, and *made* that hole through the sea floor.

[@StarShadowPrimal]

Also, said spaceship has a massive radioactive explosion within a few days of when the game starts and its gigantic engines are pointed in the general direction of the floating island, if I remember correctly. In addition to damaging the rock, who knows how that could impact the floaters. If one side of the island started to lose some of its buoyancy faster than the rest, that could increase the damage.

[@tobiwan7385]

the wave the ship created might have pushed the island away from where the juvenile floaters can be found

[@aneasteregg8171]

​@@matthewteague623 The lifepods are not that strong

[@AltOfWafflzAndSyrup]

This makes me think this rapid disintegration is in fact a result of the Aurora crashing into the crater, or perhaps its explosion. Either way, it makes me believe the shockwaves from the impact/explosion disturbed the islands, meaning the decline of the island is massively sped up.

[@iAletho]

Thats possible! I hadn't considered the impact of the explosion - although I assume if you go over there before it blows you'll still see the rock falling off :)

[@AltOfWafflzAndSyrup]

​@iAletho what about the aurora crashing in the first place rather than it just blowing up?

[@Thetankracer]

​@iAletho Tbh I think that's just game design. You're really not meant to go far before the explosion because that's when you're learning the ropes of swimming and surviving in a new alien world. But that's just brainstorming, I have no clue what is and isn't cannon pre-detonation

[@Mastermachine100]

@@iAletho - Personally, I think that (assuming the island is falling apart and it was just developers not getting the numbers) the Floating Island was struck by a tsunami from when the Aurora impacted the planet (I mean it dug a huge ass trench - there was a tsunami from that impact) and the tsunami both moved the Floating Island and damaged it structurally so the whole thing is collapsing now.

[@sharondornhoff7563]

@@AltOfWafflzAndSyrup This. If you check the map, the floating island is just to the left of the path which Aurora must have taken as it barreled into the surface. The shock waves and wake kicked up by the crash must've spread out to either side and smacked the island's southern and eastern rims like a tsunami. Great way to judder loose any patches of rock that were already weakened by the ancient floaters' feeding. Hell, maybe the old Degasi base was *intact* before the crash.

[@cybercitleta]

If we consider the pda description, floater is about 4 or 5 different bacteria species, which makes them basically invincible, as when an old bacteria dies, new recycles its remainings. Turns out, floater is a whole ecosystem, like thermal gardens

[@dimitrisskar4174]

i feel like this was overlooked in the video

[@d3str0i3r]

that and we already have on earth a lifeform structurally similar to floaters that never dies there's a species of jellyfish that doesn't die of old age, its life cycle is literally a cycle, where at the peak of its life it resets its genetic clock

[@sovietsupporter3828]

You miss the fact that the degasi survivors lived on the island at 2 separate periods of time, both long before the player

[@ZeroTaichi]

I think even there the island was getting smaller but still was a lot bigger, and this last 100 years the island started to die slowly, the reason i think it happens is because the even in a perfectly cycle there still a lost of energy and now is in a point were it has lost so much energy that some floaters started dying becasue of the lack of nutrients and that caused a chain reaction, also the base they builded also caused and imbalance.

[@StolenTheif]

It's actually possible the floating island was much closer to the safe shallows and was pushed away by the Aurora crash, probably also taking out chunks of the island as it did

[@hoozoohleague8264]

Only Bart came back after the Grand Reef events right ?

[@ReddwarfIV]

Something else to consider is that Subnautica has a strange relationship with time. The night/day cycle is about 15 minutes long, which could be attributed to super fast planetary rotation except the player needs food and water about once per day/night cycle, implying it's meant to represent around 24 hours in-universe. Also, 4546B would fly apart if it spun once per hour, let alone every quarter hour. So it's possible that the rocks are falling every minute and a half, not every second.

[@yannismorris4772]

So that put it's death at like 3 years and a bit down the line?

[@sonicANDtailsfan157k]

​@@yannismorris4772Which also explains why it didn't collapse at any time between the moment we "arrived" and the moment we left.

[@TheReZisTLust]

That's just game time though I'm pretty sure. For instance the player starves in 50 minutes and that's definitely game time.

[@ReddwarfIV]

@@TheReZisTLust That would be my point, yes

[@TheReZisTLust]

@@ReddwarfIV What I mean is it may not be 24 hrs cause dying in 1 day when recently fully fed is kinda insane. Even with constant exercise.

[@copperlocke]

Now I wonder if the weirdly round hole in the middle of the island was where an ancient floater once clung, but the rocks grew thin and it collapsed, leaving the central hole.

[@IamCoalfoot]

I would conversely suspect it to be the opening of a now dead volcano; the area is heavily volcanic, which dredge up nutrients sea life like floaters would thrive on, as evidenced by the fact the largest of the underwater "floating" islands is still connected to the ground through a thermal vent, and the way the above water section has two distinct peaks and at least a couple cliffs ringing it. I propose the floating island is what used to be a volcanic body that left behind the opening to the Lost River when the floaters ripped it away; the volcanism moved on long ago, and when it did the structure wasn't being replenished anymore, weakened, and left behind a distorted chasm that leads to the old magma channels that still today eventually lead to the Lava found at the end of the game.

[@jansonshrock2859]

To play devil's advocate, I'm not super sure that measuring the rate of decay of the island using a linear (direct) relationship is the most accurate thing to do, and the reason stems from some differential equations and also offering an alternative natural consideration to explain it. First, I want to take a look at the ancient floaters smaller cousin, the common floater. We can find them all over the safe shallows and grassy plateaus feeding off of smaller rocks, still being able to suspend them. However, we do NOT see and parts of the rock breaking off as a result of the feeding. This is very important as it suggests that floaters do a lot less structural damage to rocks than the floating island suggests. My proposal to explain the current decay riley finds on the floating island is this: The ancient floaters have RECENTLY (relative to their own lifespan, so like within 100 years) caused the island to rise up from the depths. What do you think changed that made the island suddenly light enough to be so buoyant as to be able to be lifted to the surface? My answer is that very same decay that riley is seeing and you are measuring! Think about the process of the floaters originally starting to lift the island off the ocean floor. It's going to leave behind large chunks of rock that will in turn make the island even lighter, and this process will continue the entire journey the island takes to the surface, losing more and more rock. Even after reaching the surface, the rocks will continue to fall off and I believe that's what riley is seeing. I think the island is still settling from it's journey to the surface it just takes a LONG time.

[@AngelEmfrbl]

one possibility is that the damage done to the island is caused by the Aurora. As it feel it may have sent a small tidal/shock wave through the crater, impacting the island despite it not being close. Some parts of the ship did fall in nearby areas.

[@iAletho]

A good theory Janson!

[@minhducnguyen9276]

@@iAletho I think he got a point. What if it follows a half life decay pattern? Like at the beginning there's a lot of loose rocks to fall off from the island and as time goes by the rate of falling rock will be slower? This would also explain why the smaller islands break down much slower. If this is the decay process this island may last for a very long time because it's still young that's why it's shedding so much loose rocks. It's like nuclear waste, on the first few weeks the radiation is immediately lethal to exposure but in just a year it'll be safe to stay close to them but the weak radiation will still be emitted for a thousand years.

[@Wraithspartan]

Has anyone considered that the Floating Island may have been connected to the seafloor in that general vicinity, and the floaters have ingested the entire pedestal, instead of somehow pulling it up? In this model, you would see an increasing structural instability as the necessary matter comprising the supports erodes. Example: make a pillar of snow. Remove the snow supporting the top. Then (with help) start removing the snow at the bottom of the removed top portion. You will eventually reach a point at which the remnants collapse, because the formerly stable structure has been gradually but forcefully eroded.

[@jansonshrock2859]

@@Wraithspartan YES! the sparse reef has those same pillar structures if you are entering the sparse reef from the northeast, going southwest. the area around lifepod 19 has tons of small and big holes that could have once fitted the pillars. One hole goes to the lost river and one goes to the sea treaders path and blood kelp trench. It's also sparse! If the island was recently lifted up, then most likely a lot of the larger animals and vegetation haven't moved into the vacant area yet, but the smaller herbivores and some scavengers have moved it!

[@supremefankai5480]

Well, I'm glad the floating island isn't going to collapse during gameplay because I like my summer home on it. Mind you, it would be cool if there was a timed event like the Aurora explosion that drastically changes the geography of the landmass. It wouldn't just effect the island but the grand reef below, a fascinating scenario.

[@iAletho]

That would be interesting! Maybe the shockwave could know some trees down!

[@sharondornhoff7563]

Now, I'm wondering if the reason why the Crater floor contains so many caves-upon-caves-upon-caves, and so many weird pillars and arches and sinkholes, is because most of its "surface" isn't bedrock at all, but layers of floater-eroded islands that have risen and sunk repeatedly over millions of years. It'd explain how the Garg got buried as intact as it is, and why all of the smaller caves haven't been clogged up with silt, like would happen to such gaps on Earth: the "seabed" turns over too rapidly for such infill to accumulate.

[@MCat-555]

This is like a podcast but actually good and for Subnatica

[@iAletho]

Haha thank you MCat!

[@ElliottSuperS]

100% agreed

[@mollyarnold2619]

Aletho could make a great podcast

[@ElliottSuperS]

@@mollyarnold2619 #alethosubnuaticapodcastwhen

[@sirsquadie3383]

You also might be missing the GIANT SPACESHIP, THAT EXPLODED in the equation? The radiation and impact could play major roles in destabilising the closed ecosystem.

[@iAletho]

Thats true, I hadn't considered the impact of the Aurora blowing up - although I assume if you go over there before it blows you'll still see the rock falling off :)

[@Mathijsvand]

This is especially true since every creature on 4546B reproduces asexually. The creatures on the planet are very inadaptable as a consequence, unless they have some kind of DNA restructuring going on in their reproduction, which is a thing on Earth too, so it's not completely out of whack.

[@sirsquadie3383]

Speaking about stuff exploding a sunbeam lore/breakdown video would be AMAZING! Especially with the updated lore from bellow zero surrounding the TransGovs.

[@joshuaded1052]

@@iAlethobut wouldn’t the crash of the ship cause a large tsunami.

[@Ecstacy333]

While the radiiation could def travel to the surface, water is also a really good insulator for radioactive particles (theres a reason power plants use it) so i doubt the floaters will be affected mich. Idk if this is what your comment was abt but i felt like chiming in

[@quaggity_giggity]

4:00 this is false, because when below zero first got the beginning cutscene before all the voice acting and it was just the animation of robin leaving the space station, you could see the Aurora, Mountain Island, and the floating island on the planet. but all 3 were removed in the final version for some reason as the whole planet got a new model for the cutscene.

[@cathygrandstaff1957]

One thing I’d thought regarding the falling rocks is there might be a natural cycle in which juvenile floaters attach themselves to small rocks beneath the floating islands and float them up to the surface where they then become stuck against the larger mass of rock. Then if they don’t happen to survive to become the big boi floaters they would die off causing the smaller rocks to fall back to the sea floor. It’s also possible these small rocks serve as a way to carry larval floaters from the surface to the sea floor where they can attach themselves to fresh rocks. I was thinking about this with Below Zero’s lily pad islands since they seem to have a similar dynamic with the floaters.

[@queekheadtaker7327]

Before the khadra bacteria I wonder how many of these islands were there, maybe hundreds but now only a handfull of the big ones remain, makes you wonder what the planet looked like before the outbreak

[@iAletho]

These things could have been all over the surface!

[@queekheadtaker7327]

@@iAletho its an extreme example but it shows much nature can be affected by the decline of even one species

[@endtrap7227]

@@iAlethodo you think enough ancient floaters could cause the island to hover in the air for a period of time it’s always a thought I have

[@Forsworcen]

@@endtrap7227I mean, yeah, but you’d also have to know exactly how strong the adhesive effect of the floaters is. In water the rock is easier to lift so, if it were in midair it might be unable to hold onto the island.

[@endtrap7227]

@@Forsworcen true I think it could occur naturally with one of the smaller underwater islands

[@masterofwriters4176]

6:30 The floaters must have gotten the helium from some source, and must be able to gather helium as they grow due to their lift capacity increasing. Thus unless the mechanism used to gather helium is weakening, they would be able to replenish helium supplies.

[@MaxGoodwin-wz2rd]

In reality, the underside of the island would have been reinforced by coral or aquatic plants over milinia being the only place in that area to have exposed rock and sun the surroundings being much deeper

[@KaratFengMinecraft]

There is a massive flaw in the design of these floaters: nutrients in the ground, produced by plants and wildlife, rarely penetrate deeper than a foot or two, and certainly not through rock. Unless the floaters have some sort of drill-like tongue to reach the surface and consume the nutrients, they wouldn't be able to sustain themselves. But even if they could consume the nutrients, the island wouldn't be sustainable. A creature constantly depleting nutrients from the ground would disrupt any natural cycle, rendering the island sterile within just a few months, leaving behind only a desolated rock.

[@KaratFengMinecraft]

forgot to say I still really enjoyed that video, first time getting your channel suggested to me.

[@aivarsgraudins8423]

It is probably the caves and different dirt and rock

[@sharondornhoff7563]

The island's rock is probably quite porous, else even ancient floaters probably wouldn't be able to lift it up to the surface. The Crater's a volcano, after all; lava rock tends to be full of minute pores, enough to float on its own in the case of pumice. Note that the Degasi PDAs mention a severe lack of suitable minerals for construction on the island.

[@sharondornhoff7563]

Why assume the nutrients the floaters need are the same as the ones the plants need? Maybe the floaters need substances the plants' metabolism generates as a waste product. One partner living off another partner's discards creates a stable commensal relationship. Bacterial colonies on Earth do that all the time.

[@lolermosskoss1834]

@@sharondornhoff7563that's a cool hypothesis! Also what if the floaters do have a drill like tongue that goes deeper and deeper into the island as they age, that also put their waste into the environment, so plants can have food, and the plants do the same, like a symbiotic relationship?

[@littlefox3099]

Sick! We’re getting biome videos now!

[@iAletho]

When they warrant it fox!

[@arandomcommenter412]

silly cat appearance

[@littlefox3099]

@@arandomcommenter412 close.

[@kirbyx2573]

Finding the Floating Island for the first time was super cool. Its a pretty nice place! Especialy because it has the melon seeds there. Extra points for it haha!

[@iAletho]

Those lantern fruit are OP!

[@ZarHakkar]

Alas, Subnautica is not Outer Wilds and we don't have to worry in-game about navigating a rapidly collapsing island to uncover its secrets before they disappear beneath the waves.

[@bengonzalez3109]

2:52 As they say, "Assume a round cow".

[@thewitherslayer9669]

Theory: marble melons and Chinese potatoes aren’t from 4546B they were simply onboard the degasi. The thing that supports this is that they can’t be found anywhere but the degasi base planters. But hey that’s just a theory, A GAME THEORY!

[@sharondornhoff7563]

So maybe trace chemicals from the alien-to-4546B plants are being expelled into the underlying soil by the outdoor growbeds as useless, and those residues have been poisoning the ancient floaters? Ironic, then, if enzymes from Earth could end up *dooming* a 4546B species.

[@ultmateragnarok8376]

Not sure about Marblemelons but this is confirmed for Chinese Potatoes in their scan entry.

[@prism_squadron]

If they include a small chain of islands in the next Subnautica game like the floating island it would probably prove your overpopulation theory where the floaters attach themselves each to smaller rocks, creating multiple smaller islands instead of one large one. it give us a really cool landmass above water, building a base going from one island to another would be insane. great video Aletho!

[@Shadow-hm3uq]

Now that is an aspect of the floating island I have never thought about! Your videos are really unique, I love it. Also never been here so early 😁

[@iAletho]

Thanks Shadow! Yeah I thought this was an interesting concept to look at, I was surprised nobody had made a video about it before! Welcome to the early crew!

[@TheSnomGuy]

Man i made a base on that thing i don’t want it to disintegrate

[@iAletho]

It's okay, the architects did too, I'm sure they know what they're doing!

[@ינוןמאירבןיוסף]

in the real game your base will be safe. the falling stons is affect in the game and not collapses of the island. to exsempel even the ship will stay on fire forever in the game. i saying that from my experiencer of playing the game

[@dhakman8765]

I don’t know why I initially thought this video was talking about Ark Ascended despite this channel never covering it

[@iAletho]

Aletho Ark spin off channel confirmed?

[@joshuaded1052]

@@iAlethogod that be amazing to watch as you cover why certain Dinos become what they looked liked because I doubt it was just JW type of bringing Dino’s back, I love to think that humans was able to bring back Dino’s back to life and start domesticating them

[@snakemaster254]

@@joshuaded1052with the arks story wise I believe the dinosaurs are mostly made in the Jurassic park way, but lore wise there are some notable modifications done by the arks creators. They’ve been made more cooperative and easier to domesticate, as taming was essential to the success of the arks inhabitants so the creatures were designed to more easily take to humans once tamed. The creatures were also modified to suit the conditions of their given ark as well as made in such a way to simulate a natural ecosystem without the actual shifts in populations you would expect to see, the birth rates of creatures and their death rates starkly contrast what is expected in order to maintain a thriving ecosystem at all times with no chance of survivors depleting the ecosystem, this is likely due to the arks nature as life pods meant to keep life sustained for as long as possible till the corruption was cleared on earth, if the arks were allowed to experience normal change the over active predators would destroy everything, but if the predators weren’t as present then the arks secondary positions as training facilities for the survivors once they arrived on earth would fail as there would be no living force to push them to grow stronger. I think in the case of how creatures have adapted the most interestingly to fit their unique arks, the best ark maps would be aberration, Extinction, and Genesis 2. This is for a few things, one the aberration ark was intended to be just like the other arks with an entire surface ecosystem but the survivors amassed power and accidentally broke the machine keeping the entire ark ecosystem shielded from space resulting in the surface world dying, and the crumbling ark to experience frequent earth quakes growing the cave systems in the world beneath. The creatures that inhabit the aberrant ark are either ones that used to live above and have grown into new roles and changed, or entirely new creatures that have adapted to the harsh ecosystem beyond what existed before, additionally there were some more alien creatures on this ark before likely, but their range has far expanded, to them now being the only beings on the surface. So aberration would certainly be an interesting examination of a once orderly ecosystem having fallen into chaos and changed to become alien. The Ark extinction map is inhabited by a few notable creatures that are likely descendants of creatures from our time such as the snow owl (gee I wonder what their ancestor was), the gasbag, gacha, velonasaur, and managarmr. Each of these creatures clearly shares some ancestry with modern animals, but they all appear to have adapted to the element corrupted wastelands, incorporating the everpresent spores into their body in a way that does not overtake them, perhaps suggesting a developed immunity, the element growths also appear to grant powerful capabilities such as flight, resource production, heat vision, ice breath, and other such fantastical powers only possible due to elements near limitless potential. Perhaps there’s a reason why these animals developed these strange abilities, and perhaps some other origin to their adaptions considering outside the gasbag none of them can be found roaming the wastelands themselves, sticking instead to areas closer to their modern habitats. Then Genesis 2 is also somewhat interesting. The Genesis ship with its two life rings, has experienced an ordered corruption in which a near omnipotent being has imposed his will on one of the rings and has shaped it to his liking. Creating new monsters to suit his imagination, or reinstating creatures from his prior life on the arks such as the reapers, but now in his own image. Nearly everything in the corrupted ring now bends to his will, and a new ecosystem has emerged distinct from the other ring. Perhaps the creatures remaining in this ring from before the rapid ecosystem change have remained out of necessity and have changed their ways to survive, or perhaps their new manipulator has attached them upon strings merely keeping them alive as they suit his fantasies.

[@snakemaster254]

@@joshuaded1052also sorry my comment was long I just had many tangents to run off on

[@ShoddyCast]

Did someone say SCIENCE?!

[@iAletho]

Hi it's you, Austin! I've seen so many of your videos! It's incredible to think that now you've seen one of mine!

[@ShoddyCast]

@@iAletho You did really good work, this was epic.

[@akumuryuu]

For the question "why now?" I would say it's the Aurora. Either radiation or kinetic energy of the crash damaged floaters.

[@vacuumperson]

Ello, im a big fan, been watching for 1 year, just wanted to say hi. Youre doing great, and you carried my love for subnautica for a long time, i just wanna thank you. (He carried them 2 craters long, for those interested.)

[@iAletho]

Thanks vacuumperson! I'm glad to hear you've stuck with me for so long! I appreciate all your support, stay awesome :)

[@phoenixfire7695]

This is why it’s my personal goal to take as many plant specimens as I can and grow them in a green house in my base and just grow them in planters on the Mountain Island. I do the same with the sea crown under water

[@ElliottSuperS]

imagine in like 2 years or so when subnautica 2 (3) comes out you actually go back to 4546b to try and get some material or something like that which would be incredibly important to progress in game. and once you get to the planet, you find everything different, like the floating island gone. that would be really cool to see in my opinion, and would massively expand on the lore.

[@theavocadojustforyou]

Omg! The aurora could be rusty, and there could be new floating islands and no more deadly bacterium!

[@leopold0-fo7fo]

Developers: ”Hmm… there is this giant rock you can swim under…. what if we put some particles for some atmosphere” Theory makers: ”THE ISLAND IS COLAPSING”

[@Supernva6]

Causally dropped a hard rhyme 3:14

[@Nimm2Zuckerl]

I love that I fellow Subnautica KZbinrs still update and feed me with nerdy cool content

[@TheLastBacon]

Would cutting the island in half with a terraformer make this worse? Asking for a friend :D

[@iAletho]

It might cause some minor damage, but we should be able to fix it with some flex tape!

[@Seth-Halo]

As interesting and well thought out as it is. The most likely explanation is that these islands will exist for much longer and that the collapsing is mostly just to give the player something to look at. Not that bits arnt breaking off. But that bits might not be breaking off that are of the size and consistency that they show in game. A great example of this is Fallout 4. When you see synth production, they put a synth together in like a minute from the irl players perspective. And then another. And another. And it continues on like that as long as your in there. And its always the same guy. Even if they was creating a variety of synths there or changing their form later. They dont need to create a stock pile of 1440 synths a day. But taking that they need to put on a show for the player and time is already accelerated, it isnt unlikely that a more lore friendly growth time is much longer than what we see in game. Except this is the opposite of that. Instead of the time it takes to create being longer, the time until destruction is likely much longer. Just like how you only see about 3 sizes of floaters. Obviously there is a lot of inbetween sized. But the devs cant include every possible size.

[@Ezplayzgames]

Love the videos!! Keep up the good work!!

[@iAletho]

Thanks Ez! I'll keep em coming!

[@Dzeffer12345]

Been watching your videos for months or a year at best, I finally subscribed because I never knew I wasn't. Godspeed my man, keep the content flowing

[@iAletho]

@@Dzeffer12345 Thanks Dzeffer! I appreciate the comment :)

[@Dzeffer12345]

​@@iAletho Anything for the algorithm bröther

[@jackxsonz]

Bruh I’ve been there loads of times and i didn’t even know there were rocks falling for some reason

[@iAletho]

And plenty of them too jackxson!

[@eligibbard1439]

The plants themselves do replace rock. Most rocks in earth are made from organic materials like chalk and limestone. And floating islands exist in earth as the roots of plants tangle together, creating rafts. It's possible that as plants die they create rock, taking carbon from the atmosphere and turning it to stone like coal and limestone. It would likely happen to slowly to save it but yea. I do love the idea of ecological succession in video games tho

[@benek-y3k]

Brooo floaters are blackmailing the plants on the island. If plants don’t give nutrients to the floaters the whole island will go back down into the sea

[@LukePlayzGames8]

Damn

[@Treekicker]

my personal theory: It just flavor from the devs and they didn't consider this in the slightest.

[@justsomerandomdudeontheint9859]

FINALLY! THE FLOATER LEVIATHAN!!! :D

[@Gamerafighter76]

Glad you’ve touched on this subject; I really hadn’t considered the possibility of the floating island slowly falling apart and eroding away. But, y’know, game logic.

[@SpinoRexPlays-]

Always a good day when you upload bro

[@iAletho]

Thanks Spino!

[@lordragnarok1086]

You sir have earned a subscriber merely from the work you put into the videoes

[@TheSleep_Cookie]

Hello! Ive been feeling really stressed because of school tomorrow and when i watched this, I felt better. Thank you! :)

[@Thegameingmeme]

Hold up... why the island look like belgium. 2:06

[@Alby-td3ub]

You have a point

[@swordcoheir9186]

I think the unpredictable weather over the open ocean probably attributed to it's erosion and instability as well. The reef probably protected it greatly from the weather, but after it drifted out over open water it got really bad and really quick, just like the explorer notes mentioned.

[@henryhere]

The fact that we can talk about these completely fictional things like they're real and come up with realistic, plausible theories and explanations as to why they are the way they are is a testament to how well done this game is and it's amazing. Good video too, I didn't expect to have this much fun listening to this specific topic

[@gigakev]

Great video really enjoyed the theory of it all. The sound effects and all the transitions must've took a long time to make, props for that.

[@FredFreitas-x3j]

Good, now I’m invested in the floating island being underwayer

[@koharumi1]

This raises a new question. Do we see any islands that will one day float to the surface to become a new floating landmass?

[@ImThatGirl101]

The bottom of the floating island looks a lot like the edge of the sparse reef with all those stalagmite thingies poking up. My theory is that the entire sparse reef area used to be a massive lava source and pushed up basalt pillars, as seen in various cases here on earth. Then when the lava disappeared for whatever reason, it left many caves and places for creatures like floaters to access. They attached themselves to the ground and, with there being so many caves and channels, it tore apart like a perforated paper, gradually floating to the surface and assuming its upright (or rather upside down) position.

[@takoyakiiii]

First rivers by any austin, now islands by aletho. Geography is so back.

[@L_to_the_M]

I was so happy getting a subnautica Video after a while of playing the game

[@Jake-iy7pl]

Your way of editing is so cool glad to see you growing keep having at it👍

[@jessenelson1276]

Your uploads are always a joy to see man! Amazing job!❤❤❤

[@slothgaming4018]

If I remember correctly the ancient floaters are actually several normal floaters combined so that might why we don't see any juvenile

[@ScionStorm1]

Sunautica wasn't even in the title and I recognized the island in the thumbnail instantly.

[@prcervi]

one thing the floating island always makes me wonder is if you could just sink some anchors into the stone and drag it to shallower/hospitable waters, the floaters are keeping it buoyant so you'd only need to worry about water drag really

[@skyguyflyinghigh]

my headcannon is that the plants and life are like that one species of moth (i think if i remember correctly) that's born without a mouth and only exists to procreate, or seeds that are good at going dormant through winter, there's seeds for all the plants and dormant eggs for everything in the seafloor and on the floating islands just waiting for the right conditions, an endless cycle of waiting for a new island to rise and populating it before sinking back into the sea. an amazing alien cycle of land constantly rising, filling with life then sinking like a whale fall, the nutrients from the dead ancient floaters adding nutrition back to the rock and soil before new floaters come along and rise it back up.

[@adamixziober]

my headcanon for the underwater islands is that they were on the surface before but when the aurora crashed they got hit by debris and broke apart, transforming into what we see today (this would also make sense if it was a fragment of the degasi)

[@uni-minichromi]

considering that the balloon creatures eventually reach an equilibrium you could conclude that island deconstruction eventually asymptoticly levels out if you plot the size vs levelized depth vs the size of the creatures you could probably figure out the real time until it sinks.

[@Alchelio]

Actually helium can be produced via radioactive decay as well, also known as alpha radiation, which consist of helium-4 ions. So theoretically speaking if the ancient floaters were to be able to amass radioactive matter and could resist the radiation they could have a somewhat renewable source of helium (provided they lose it slow enough). Albeit I will admit that it would take a looooooong time to procure enough helium that way.

[@EthanTheDinoNerd]

Gosh I love this game. Finally beaten it this morning and wish I had below zero. What's funny is that mid game I installed de- extinction mod and what was at first now the floating islands are home to gulper leviathan and 3 young gulpers

[@masterofwriters4176]

Considering the floaters are feeding off of the rock, it's not impossible to conclude they may have extended a root like network into the rock. This root like structure could easily help hold the island together, which would then allow the landmass to remain intact after it's lost some mass in the form of rocks not bound by the roots. Coupled with the island being composed of sedimentary rock, and is constantly getting sand and material deposited on it, making up for a mass loss, it could easily have reached a stable size.

[@pilkers2]

One of the scariest parts of the game to me was always the giant empty abyss below the island

[@ThesoldierfromTF2]

An idea that I like is that while the plants do produce infinite food it's not enough to feed the floaters fully but rather they take a lot of nutrients from the rock itself with the plant by-products only supplementing it thus giving the island a longer lifespan but the deficit has increased and it's now collapsing

[@Fulgrim2]

Well thankfully that’s not my problem, I keep my base out in the ocean by it.

[@iAletho]

Unless it lands on top of you Fulgrim!

[@Fulgrim2]

That’s what insurance is for.

[@AbduIAlhazred]

​@@iAletho thats why its better to live in the cyclops

[@Emptysneeze6730]

Always love when upload keep doing good

[@iAletho]

Thanks Emptysneeze!

[@TheCosmic86]

Great vid 👌

[@iAletho]

Cheers Cosmic!

[@yeetsahoy7867]

You also have too keep in mind the floaters putting force on the island and might just tear the island apart themselves once the island gets structurally weak enough

[@hyenaholicproductions9033]

I feel like this sounds like a 'Circle Of Life' thing, as you say. This is how Floaters work, they are born, attatch themselves to the nearby nutrients, and gather together as an islend, lifting it to the surface where it will, over time, raise up something not unlike the Floating Island, full of nutrients for them to gobble up. It could last for thousands of years, but as the Floaters continue to reproduce, the juveniles are carried by the currents to new places to create new islands to raise and feed on, while the older ones grow too large, or just die off. Ironically, it's not unlike the life-cycle of pollination with flowers and bees on Earth.

[@randomnothing7006]

best subnautica youtuber ever

[@KecahirEdits]

Briliant work as usual keen to see next video.

[@isacfelix1278]

My theory is that part of their reproduction cycle is the newer ones floating away to a place that isn't so barren of nutrients and that's why we don't see any of the juvenile floaters there, which would lead me to believe that the next floating island to appear would be part of the safe shallows

[@atharv8559]

what my theory would be is that the roots of the tress are the reason the island haven't disintegrated yet roots act as cement keeping everything together that's why the island is still here.

[@StolenTheif]

This makes me wonder if the floating island was much closer to the safe shallows before the aurora crash, explaining why the degasi crew set up shop there even though it's close to the edge of the map

[@Foamamusic]

There’s one problem with the rocks falling off… the dust particles that break off the rock float upwards back towards the island, and erosion should break the rest of the boulder down and the dust floats all the way back up, eventually compacting back into the island. So our little island probably won’t crumble, and I don’t think the erosion will be able to overweigh it. Maybe it sinking could only happen due to I dunno a mass skyray feeding, lol. The helium lost by floaters could be trapped underneath the island, having no less effects. If they do die of old age, unlike gargs which only ever starved when dying, considering the gigantic quantity of these creatures there’s gotta be a big source. While we don’t know what it is we know it’s still active because of the babies at the grassy plateaus.

[@Goozidaguy]

love the videos keep it up with the effort!

[@iAletho]

Thank you goozidaguy!

[@voltekthecyborg7898]

this may also mean that the flora has adaptations for their seeds to stay in the water for an insane period of time. Like, far more than a coconut, possibly being like the resurrection plant in Africa: but instead of surviving till they find fresh water, they're surviving until they find a suitable land mass.

[@nyx019]

its wonderful how scientifically thought through subnautica is

[@Paulthored]

My guess was that the Floaters were Slowly eating away at some of the Rock they were attached to. Thus Explaining why there's those Large Spires of Rock/Island, jutting down past most of the Floaters. Over millennia, the Floaters were eating away at the Rock, and thus shaped the underside of the Island.

[@EthanNicholson-xs6ys]

May I suggest another theory concerning the glowing vine-like growths at the bottom of the island also playing a part, they may grow and catalyse the nutrient deficiency or strangle the rocks and make them fall, or both

[@JackyDacky]

About drift… the island could also drift into the void, the island is not connected to anything and it’ll move overtime by the waves, wind etc, and with the age of the island (precursor tech dated to 1000 years ago) that might’ve happened already. Scenario one, the island was made at the crater and its slowly drifting away from it. (island sits nearly at the edge of the Crater currently) Scenario two, the island drifted into the crater from another location and it’s still moving into it (unlikely since the precursor tech signifies that its been near or at the craters edge over a thousand years ago)

[@Renzonio]

I like to think that floaters their eggs are heavy so they sink to the bottom. Where the larve would dig themself deeper into the ground and eat the ground aroun them growing larger over time. And when the group gets bigger and heavier and the holes larger it would break apart and make a new floating island :)

[@newtybot]

The fact that thares such a diverse ecosystem on tbe island that cant be found on the mountain tells me that the island isnt even from this caldera, but probably drifted in from somewhere else. This is even more evident considering the island has no crater below it but the other submerged islands do

[@JakobRust]

Great video keep up the good work

[@iAletho]

Thanks Jakob!

[@Bongdavid-g4y]

You know the isle cook breaking half, yeah, i could get breaking heart. I'll be nice, and they will be having two growing islands, we don't collapse.

[@FuImaDragon]

Every playthru, if i find some random floaters in the water just floating around, i place them under the island to save it lol.

[@OleksandrHromov]

floaters don't feed on the rock nutrients though, they instead raise the islands so that they grow plants to later drown them and consume, according to pda

[@mericaman8877]

The rocks falling might have been due to the Aurora crashing into the planet, sending shockwaves and knocking loose boulders free

[@Okatami]

Cool Video! I wonder what our would would look like, if floaters lived here… Hope you continue with those videos! :D

[@rachelgrubb9269]

Or maybe since the underwater island has a wreckage on it maybe the wreckage has broken it apart and making it sink a significant ways down when we were knocked out

[@tuellecke1339]

My guess is that by feeding from nutrients they slowly eat the rock too. So it may be likely that it was once bigger on the under site. Why I think so? The stone pillars are around the floaters as if they burrowed into it

[@benjaminschlufter9823]

"unless floaters are secretly nuclear reaktor" 😂😂 I KNEW IT!!😂

[@YamanŞekerci]

Never disappoints 🗣️🔥

[@iAletho]

I'm glad you like my videos! :)