Colossal squid caught on video for first time, seen swimming nearly 2,000 feet below ocean's surface
The colossal squid, the heaviest invertebrate in the world, was captured on video swimming in the deep sea for the first time since it was identified a century ago.
The footage was filmed on March 9 by an international team of scientists and crew on an expedition near the South Sandwich Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, Schmidt Ocean Institute said in a news release.
The squid, scientifically named Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, was a juvenile at nearly one foot long, according to the release. It was at a depth of 1,968 feet when scientists and crew on board the institute's research vessel Falkor captured footage of it with a remotely operated vehicle called SuBastian.
"It's exciting to see the first in situ footage of a juvenile colossal and humbling to think that they have no idea that humans exist," said Kat Bolstad of the Auckland University of Technology.
Bolstad was one of the scientific experts who assisted with verifying the video.
"For 100 years, we have mainly encountered them as prey remains in whale and seabird stomachs and as predators of harvested toothfish," she said.
The squid was formally identified and named in 1925, but until now, no one has been able to capture it alive on camera.
It's estimated that the squid can grow up to 23 feet in length and weigh as much as 1,100 pounds, the institute said. Little is known about the squid's life cycle, but it loses its transparent body as it becomes an adult.
The colossal squid is not to be confused with a giant squid, according to the Natural History Museum of London. Both are massive cephalopods, but belong to different families of squid. The giant squid has much longer tentacles with a more narrow body, whereas the colossal squid has a much larger body with shorter tentacles.
Bolstad and Aaron Evans, an independent expert on the glass squid family who also helped verify the video, both said that the colossal squid has distinguishing characteristics, including hooks on the middle of their eight arms.
To date, the institute's ROV SuBastian has captured the first confirmed footage of at least four squid species in the wild, including the Promachoteuthis last year and the ram's horn squid in 2020.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
National Geographic
2 days ago
- National Geographic
Explore the vast ocean in 25 spectacular photos
National Geographic Explorers, Kim Bernard (right), Jane Young (middle) and Bernard's team member and PhD student, Rachel Kaplan (left), observe Antarctic krill collected by ROV Subastian in Weddell Sea, Southern Ocean, seashore to seafloor and from pole to pole, Perpetual Planet Ocean Expeditions examine the causes and impacts of marine systems change throughout the largest and most vital ecosystem on Earth – the Ocean – while generating bold and innovative solutions in partnership with the coastal communities whose lives and livelihoods depend on it. The multi-year exploration of all five basins of the world's ocean – Arctic, Southern, Pacific, Atlantic and Indian – anchored by 20+ National Geographic Explorers, leverages several science disciplines, local ecological knowledge and world-class storytelling to reveal the diversity and connectivity of unique and vulnerable marine ecosystems while scaling bold and innovative solutions to help protect, restore and rebalance our planet's largest Geographic Explorers, storytellers and educators conducted a comprehensive scientific examination in the Southern Ocean's Weddell Sea via a groundbreaking sea ice to seafloor transect over a 21-day field research expedition in December 2024. The multidisciplinary team of 18 scientists, with expertise in oceanography, marine ecology, climate science, geology, wildlife health and migration, and community-based conservation, documented vital marine processes in this critical yet understudied region. The scientist teams collected 750 samples of sediment cores, ice cores, algae, krill, sea floor organisms (e.g., tubeworms, sponges, etc.), wildlife swabs, and blood and tissue samples. Their observations will deepen our understanding of this ecosystem while informing conservation efforts essential to maintaining planetary health and ensuring a planet in Southern Ocean Expedition was conducted in collaboration with the Schmidt Ocean Institute which provided National Geographic Explorers the opportunity to leverage the state-of-the art tools and capabilities of its 110m global ocean-class R/V Falkor (too) during its maiden voyage to the Southern Ocean.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Yahoo
Coral gardens and volcano vents: See what scientists found in the icy depths of the Southern Ocean
Scientists on board a deep-sea expedition to the South Sandwich Islands near Antarctica have returned with a treasure trove of photos of previously unseen marine life. They found coral gardens, hydrothermal vents and many suspected new species while exploring around the island chain, including in the deepest trench in the Southern Ocean. The same international team, aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor (too), made headlines last month with their world-first footage of a colossal squid. And in January, they were in the right place at the right time to explore the seafloor when a Chicago-sized iceberg broke away from an ice shelf in Antarctica. But there were many more 'magic moments' on the 35-day deep-sea expedition to this extremely biodiverse part of the ocean. 'The 35 days at sea were an exciting rollercoaster of scientific discovery; the implications of which will be felt for many years to come as discoveries filter into management action,' says Dr Michelle Taylor, head of science and expedition principal investigator at the Ocean Census - the world's largest initiative to accelerate the discovery of ocean life. These remarkable photos take us along for the ride. Related What are milky seas? 400 years of sailors' stories are shedding light on ocean bioluminescence Located in the South Atlantic, the South Sandwich Islands are part of a rich mosaic of geologic features. These include hadal zone trenches (the deepest region of the ocean), underwater volcanoes, and spreading centres - features created by tectonic forces that have supported the evolution of species found nowhere else on the planet. It took eight days for the research vessel to travel to the islands from the port of Punta Arenas, Chile. On board were Ocean Census scientists, who led efforts to discover new species, and researchers from GoSouth, a collaboration between the UK's University of Plymouth, the British Antarctic Survey and Germany's GEOMAR, tasked with investigating the effects of geohazards, including tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquakes. Related Rare snail that can 'slurp up earthworms like noodles' caught on camera laying an egg from its neck The GoSouth team, led by co-chief scientist Dr Jenny Gales, discovered two pockmarks in the mapping data of an underwater caldera - a bowl-shaped depression in the seafloor, left after a volcano erupts. Since pockmarks can indicate hydrothermal activity, the team deployed the vessel's remotely operated vehicle (ROV) SuBastian to map the pockmarks at a higher resolution. The robot confirmed the presence of hydrothermal vents - fissures from which geothermally heated water rises - finding three on the larger pockmark, and one on the smaller one. Located at a depth of 700 metres, they are some of the shallowest hydrothermal vents to have been discovered near the South Sandwich Islands. The tallest vent chimney was four metres - about as tall as a basketball hoop. 'Discovering these hydrothermal vents was a magical moment, as they have never been seen here before,' says Dr Gales, an associate professor in Ocean Exploration at the University of Plymouth. 'It's an incredible discovery that provides valuable insights into the area's tectonic activity. Making such a discovery is rare. It highlights the importance of ocean exploration and seafloor mapping.' Each vent was covered with an array of life dependent on chemosynthesis (producing food using inorganic substances without sunlight), including sea snails and barnacles. Thriving coral gardens and large sponges were also found in close proximity to the vents - an unusual observation, according to Dr Taylor. Related OceanXplorer: On board the billionaire's research vessel broadcasting from the deep sea Meanwhile, Ocean Census scientists uncovered a range of potentially new marine life - including corals, sponges, snails, sea urchins, sea stars and benthic (sea bottom) ctenophores, which have gelatinous bodies. A thriving coral garden located west of Saunders Island at a depth of 120 metres is pictured in one of the most breathtaking photos from the expedition. The exact number of new species will be announced later this year when experts have had time to formally assess and catalogue the findings. But they include a possible new sea cucumber species - marine invertebrates so-named for their soft cylindrical bodies. These creatures play a crucial role in benthic ecosystems by recycling nutrients, and are well-adapted to the cold Antarctic environment. During a dive in the South Sandwich Trench - one of the coldest and most isolated submarine trenches on the planet - the team also spotted snailfish eggs laid on a black coral, a previously unknown behaviour. They also captured the first footage of Akarotaxis aff. gouldae, a species of dragonfish that was discovered only two years ago. And found large pumice blocks, indicating that the South Sandwich Islands are capable of explosive volcanism. Mother Nature threw everything she had at the expedition, says Dr Taylor, including a subsea earthquake, tropical storm force winds with hurricane-level gusts, eight-metre waves, and icebergs to navigate. 'The challenging ocean and weather conditions and the isolated location of the South Sandwich Islands capture the imagination of the boldest explorers - often the closest humans to the vessel were on the International Space Station,' says Schmidt Ocean Institute's executive director, Dr Jyotika Virmani.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Yahoo
Scientists Take First Ever Video of Colossal Squid in the Wild... With One Comical Issue
An international team of scientists from the Schmidt Ocean Institute have captured the first ever footage of a colossal squid — the terrors of the sea that are legendary for both their monstrous proportions and elusiveness — roaming in its natural habitat. But to say it's a big discovery might be misleading. Found lurking in the depths of the South Atlantic Ocean, the specimen is a juvenile mollusk, measuring barely a foot in length. With a transparent body, you might mistake it for some form of jellyfish at first. Mainly, it's the tiny tentacles that betray its true identity. It's no Kraken sighting, in other words. But so rare are these deep sea predators that any footage at all is invaluable. And besides, witnessing one as a baby isn't without its charm or scientific insight. "I actually love that this is our first glimpse of what will become a true giant," Kat Bolstad, a cephalopod biologist at the Auckland University of Technology who helped verify the video, told The New York Times. "It's exciting to see the first in situ footage of a juvenile colossal and humbling to think that they have no idea that humans exist," Kat added in a statement, per NPR. The footage was captured using a remotely operated vehicle dubbed SuBastian, at a depth of around 2,000 feet in March. Researchers on the expedition sent the footage to Bolstad, who confirmed that the specimen on display was indeed the famed creature, albeit in miniature. Colossal squids inhabit the cold depths of the Antarctic seas. As adults, they can grow up to 23 feet long — and perhaps close to twice that if you measure from tip to the ends of their tentacles — and weigh around 1,100 pounds. They shouldn't be confused with giant squids, which grow to similar lengths but are slenderer and less heavy, favoring more temperate waters. The colossal squid's existence was first discovered secondhand, through their chewed-up remains found in the stomach of a sperm whale in 1925. It wasn't until 1981 that a living full adult specimen was caught accidentally by fishermen. And nearly a century on, we still have a lot to learn about these mysterious creatures, which may in fact be trying to avoid humans. "They're very aware of their surroundings, because any disturbance in the water column around them might mean a predator," Bolstad told the NYT. Fully grown colossal squids boast the largest eyes in the animal kingdom, at roughly the size of a basketball, making them extremely adept at spying both prey and predators in the dark waters they call home. Finding more won't be easy, but this discovery is an encouraging reminder that it's possible. With any luck, the next one that the team spots will live up to its behemoth reputation. "I can't wait to see what a live adult colossal squid looks like, at home in the deep sea where it belongs," Bolstad told the NYT. More on marine life: Scientists Revive Organism Found Buried at Bottom of Ocean
