Latest news with #Mesonychoteuthis
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Live colossal squid, super-heavyweight of the deep sea, caught on video for the first time
The colossal squid, the world's largest squid species, was caught on video for the first time swimming in its natural habitat, according to a California ocean research organization. This squid, as its name suggests, can grow to as much as 23 feet in length and 1,100 pounds — the heaviest invertebrate in the world — according to the Schmidt Ocean Institute. But the creature the institute caught on video was a footlong juvenile. It was recorded March 9 near the South Sandwich Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean at a depth of nearly 2,000 feet, according to a news release from the nonprofit. The squid was formally named and identified in 1925 but hadn't been recorded alive until this instance. The squid, officially named Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, was recorded during a 35-day expedition that was aimed at finding new marine life, the release states. Scientists aboard the institute's Falkor research vessel captured video of the squid with its remotely operated vehicle called SuBastian. The squids lose their transparent bodies as they get older, and dying adults have been recorded before by fishermen, but a colossal squid hadn't before been seen alive at such a depth. "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 in the release. Bolstad was consulted to verify the video, according to the institute. 'For 100 years, we have mainly encountered them as prey remains in whale and seabird stomachs and as predators of harvested toothfish.' Read more: Trump administration seeks to narrow Endangered Species Act by redefining 'harm' During a January expedition, the team also captured first-time video of the glacial glass squid (called Galiteuthis glacialis), according to the institute. That creature also has never been seen alive before in its natural environment. 'The first sighting of two different squids on back-to-back expeditions is remarkable and shows how little we have seen of the magnificent inhabitants of the Southern Ocean,' Jyotika Virmani, the Schmidt Ocean Institute's executive director, said in the release. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
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
CNN
16-04-2025
- Science
- CNN
Colossal squid resembles a ‘glass sculpture' in first footage taken from the deep sea
Scientists have captured the first confirmed footage of the elusive colossal squid in its natural environment 100 years after the marine creature was first identified and named, according to the Schmidt Ocean Institute. Video, taken near the South Sandwich Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, shows a juvenile squid, named Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, swimming at a depth of 1,968 feet (600 meters). The footage was captured by SuBastian, a remotely operated vehicle deployed during an expedition by the institute's research vessel, Falkor (too), in March. While the colossal squid is thought to grow up to 23 feet (7 meters) long and weigh as much as 1,110 pounds (500 kilograms) — which makes it the heaviest invertebrate on the planet — this juvenile squid measures nearly 1 foot (30 centimeters) long. The squid has lost some of its 'baby features,' such as stalked eyes that stick out the side of its head. Rather, the eyes are part of the head, and the head and body are more proportional to one another, said Dr. Aaron Evans, an independent researcher and an expert on Cranchiidae, or the glass squid family to which the colossal squid belongs. Evans, who did not participate in the expedition, independently verified the species along with Dr. Kat Bolstad, associate professor at New Zealand's Auckland University of Technology. 'We could think of this maybe as a teenager squid,' Evans said during a news conference Tuesday. 'It's not quite an adult. It hasn't fully matured yet. It's still got a lot of growing to do. But it's not a baby either. So, it's a very exciting specimen for us to examine. For us to see this kind of midrange size in between a hatchling and an adult is really exciting because it gives us the opportunity to fill in some of those missing puzzle pieces to the life history of this very mysterious animal.' Additionally, a team aboard a previous Falkor (too) expedition in January to the Southern Ocean near Antarctica captured footage of the glacial glass squid, which has never been seen before alive in its environment. 'The first sighting of two different squids on back-to-back expeditions is remarkable and shows how little we have seen of the magnificent inhabitants of the Southern Ocean,' Dr. Jyotika Virmani, the Schmidt Ocean Institute's executive director, said in a statement. The high-resolution video footage of both squid species, which allowed scientists to confirm their identities, is opening a new window to delicate ocean life and shedding light on how animals survive within its depths. Little is known about the life and behaviors of the colossal squid. Most of what scientists understand about the animal has come from dead or dying specimens found within the stomachs of whales and seabirds, or as predators of toothfish that are harvested and caught for human consumption, Bolstad said. But with the new footage comes fresh insights, which were captured during the flagship expedition on a quest to search for previously unknown marine life, a collaboration between the Schmidt Ocean Institute, the Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census and GoSouth. GoSouth is a joint project of the UK's University of Plymouth, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Germany and the British Antarctic Survey. Bolstad and Evans carefully reviewed the footage to search for identifying features of the colossal squid. Squid have eight shorter arms and two longer tentacles. Something that distinguishes the colossal squid is the presence of hooks on the middle of its eight arms. Evans said he began hyperventilating with excitement when he noticed the hooks present on the recently filmed juvenile squid. 'I have been researching deep-sea squids, including the colossal, since the early 2000s, and I can say that this is honestly one of the most exciting observations that we've had across the time that I've been working on deep-sea cephalopods,' Bolstad said during the news conference. 'One of the things I love about this footage is how delicate this animal appears to be. It looks like a glass sculpture. Looking at these animals … thriving and in that delicate state, and then thinking about what it takes for humans to even remotely get to that environment … it's just a great reminder of how much we have left to learn from nature.' Bolstad also noted the presence of large rusty red brown chromatophores, or color-changing cells, on the squid's mantle. '(That) tells us that it almost certainly can switch back and forth between being completely transparent, which is how we see it, mostly in this footage, to being quite opaque,' Bolstad said. 'And it probably has fine control over whether it can do that in certain regions of the body as well, which, again, we would have hypothesized, but we don't know for sure until we see this animal.' Bolstad noted that an organization called Colossal captured footage of a glass squid of a similar size in the Antarctic in the organization's 2023-2024 observing campaign, but the lack of high-resolution footage made it impossible to distinguish which squid species it belonged to because its features weren't discernible. Bolstad clarified that the colossal squid is not the same as the giant squid. While the colossal squid lives exclusively in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic regions, the giant squid is found in other oceans of the world. During a separate expedition near Antarctica in January, Dr. Thom Linley was on board as the team examined the seafloor after a Chicago-size iceberg broke away from the George VI Ice Shelf. Linley, curator of fishes at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, was in the ship's control room as the Falkor (too) deployed a remotely operated vehicle through the depths of the Bellingshausen Sea when he saw something intriguing as SuBastian reached 2,254 feet (687 meters). A glass squid floated into view, and Linley asked if the vehicle could pause during descent to capture footage. 'I know it's a cute little squid, but this might be important,' Linley recalled saying. He shared the high-resolution footage with Bolstad. Evans was also brought in to review the imagery. The juvenile colossal squid and the glacial glass squid, called Galiteuthis glacialis, appear similar, with both having hooks at the end of their two longer tentacles and transparent bodies. But this particular glass squid observed during the descent held its arms loosely above its head in a maneuver called a cockatoo pose, which has been observed previously in glass squids. Together, Bolstad and Evans were able to confirm that they were seeing a glacial glass squid in its frigid, deep environment for the first time. Neither of the squid observed in the footage disappear or appear alarmed by presence of the remotely operated vehicle. Instead, they appear to hold their positions calmly, assessing if the vehicle is a threat. But an adult colossal squid remains elusive, using its sensitive vision to avoid anything that may pose a risk. 'From their perspective, any time something large is coming forward, it's not a good thing,' Evans said. 'The adult colossal squid remains mysterious and enigmatic because it has these senses, which allow it to see us. The colossal squid is limited to Antarctica, where we don't get the opportunity to research quite as frequently. So, it's going to take us a bit longer for us to have that chance encounter where we get it on film.' The research vessel won't be returning to Antarctica until 2028, but it will be operating in the South Atlantic Ocean off the coasts of Argentina and Uruguay over the next four years, the Schmidt Ocean Institute's Virmani said. The vehicle's dives are streamed live on the institute's YouTube channel so anyone can follow along with its expeditions to the deep, she said. 'Now that we have the ability to share (dives) in real time in this way and show people how beautiful the things are, how many things remain to be discovered, and that people can come along with us as we make these discoveries, I feel like our ability to appreciate the deep sea on a much wider scale is moving towards where it should have been all along,' Bolstad said.
CNN
16-04-2025
- Science
- CNN
Colossal squid resembles a ‘glass sculpture' in first footage taken from the deep sea
Scientists have captured the first confirmed footage of the elusive colossal squid in its natural environment 100 years after the marine creature was first identified and named, according to the Schmidt Ocean Institute. Video, taken near the South Sandwich Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, shows a juvenile squid, named Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, swimming at a depth of 1,968 feet (600 meters). The footage was captured by SuBastian, a remotely operated vehicle deployed during an expedition by the institute's research vessel, Falkor (too), in March. While the colossal squid is thought to grow up to 23 feet (7 meters) long and weigh as much as 1,110 pounds (500 kilograms) — which makes it the heaviest invertebrate on the planet — this juvenile squid measures nearly 1 foot (30 centimeters) long. The squid has lost some of its 'baby features,' such as stalked eyes that stick out the side of its head. Rather, the eyes are part of the head, and the head and body are more proportional to one another, said Dr. Aaron Evans, an independent researcher and an expert on Cranchiidae, or the glass squid family to which the colossal squid belongs. Evans, who did not participate in the expedition, independently verified the species along with Dr. Kat Bolstad, associate professor at New Zealand's Auckland University of Technology. 'We could think of this maybe as a teenager squid,' Evans said during a news conference Tuesday. 'It's not quite an adult. It hasn't fully matured yet. It's still got a lot of growing to do. But it's not a baby either. So, it's a very exciting specimen for us to examine. For us to see this kind of midrange size in between a hatchling and an adult is really exciting because it gives us the opportunity to fill in some of those missing puzzle pieces to the life history of this very mysterious animal.' Additionally, a team aboard a previous Falkor (too) expedition in January to the Southern Ocean near Antarctica captured footage of the glacial glass squid, which has never been seen before alive in its environment. 'The first sighting of two different squids on back-to-back expeditions is remarkable and shows how little we have seen of the magnificent inhabitants of the Southern Ocean,' Dr. Jyotika Virmani, the Schmidt Ocean Institute's executive director, said in a statement. The high-resolution video footage of both squid species, which allowed scientists to confirm their identities, is opening a new window to delicate ocean life and shedding light on how animals survive within its depths. Little is known about the life and behaviors of the colossal squid. Most of what scientists understand about the animal has come from dead or dying specimens found within the stomachs of whales and seabirds, or as predators of toothfish that are harvested and caught for human consumption, Bolstad said. But with the new footage comes fresh insights, which were captured during the flagship expedition on a quest to search for previously unknown marine life, a collaboration between the Schmidt Ocean Institute, the Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census and GoSouth. GoSouth is a joint project of the UK's University of Plymouth, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Germany and the British Antarctic Survey. Bolstad and Evans carefully reviewed the footage to search for identifying features of the colossal squid. Squid have eight shorter arms and two longer tentacles. Something that distinguishes the colossal squid is the presence of hooks on the middle of its eight arms. Evans said he began hyperventilating with excitement when he noticed the hooks present on the recently filmed juvenile squid. 'I have been researching deep-sea squids, including the colossal, since the early 2000s, and I can say that this is honestly one of the most exciting observations that we've had across the time that I've been working on deep-sea cephalopods,' Bolstad said during the news conference. 'One of the things I love about this footage is how delicate this animal appears to be. It looks like a glass sculpture. Looking at these animals … thriving and in that delicate state, and then thinking about what it takes for humans to even remotely get to that environment … it's just a great reminder of how much we have left to learn from nature.' Bolstad also noted the presence of large rusty red brown chromatophores, or color-changing cells, on the squid's mantle. '(That) tells us that it almost certainly can switch back and forth between being completely transparent, which is how we see it, mostly in this footage, to being quite opaque,' Bolstad said. 'And it probably has fine control over whether it can do that in certain regions of the body as well, which, again, we would have hypothesized, but we don't know for sure until we see this animal.' Bolstad noted that an organization called Colossal captured footage of a glass squid of a similar size in the Antarctic in the organization's 2023-2024 observing campaign, but the lack of high-resolution footage made it impossible to distinguish which squid species it belonged to because its features weren't discernible. Bolstad clarified that the colossal squid is not the same as the giant squid. While the colossal squid lives exclusively in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic regions, the giant squid is found in other oceans of the world. During a separate expedition near Antarctica in January, Dr. Thom Linley was on board as the team examined the seafloor after a Chicago-size iceberg broke away from the George VI Ice Shelf. Linley, curator of fishes at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, was in the ship's control room as the Falkor (too) deployed a remotely operated vehicle through the depths of the Bellingshausen Sea when he saw something intriguing as SuBastian reached 2,254 feet (687 meters). A glass squid floated into view, and Linley asked if the vehicle could pause during descent to capture footage. 'I know it's a cute little squid, but this might be important,' Linley recalled saying. He shared the high-resolution footage with Bolstad. Evans was also brought in to review the imagery. The juvenile colossal squid and the glacial glass squid, called Galiteuthis glacialis, appear similar, with both having hooks at the end of their two longer tentacles and transparent bodies. But this particular glass squid observed during the descent held its arms loosely above its head in a maneuver called a cockatoo pose, which has been observed previously in glass squids. Together, Bolstad and Evans were able to confirm that they were seeing a glacial glass squid in its frigid, deep environment for the first time. Neither of the squid observed in the footage disappear or appear alarmed by presence of the remotely operated vehicle. Instead, they appear to hold their positions calmly, assessing if the vehicle is a threat. But an adult colossal squid remains elusive, using its sensitive vision to avoid anything that may pose a risk. 'From their perspective, any time something large is coming forward, it's not a good thing,' Evans said. 'The adult colossal squid remains mysterious and enigmatic because it has these senses, which allow it to see us. The colossal squid is limited to Antarctica, where we don't get the opportunity to research quite as frequently. So, it's going to take us a bit longer for us to have that chance encounter where we get it on film.' The research vessel won't be returning to Antarctica until 2028, but it will be operating in the South Atlantic Ocean off the coasts of Argentina and Uruguay over the next four years, the Schmidt Ocean Institute's Virmani said. The vehicle's dives are streamed live on the institute's YouTube channel so anyone can follow along with its expeditions to the deep, she said. 'Now that we have the ability to share (dives) in real time in this way and show people how beautiful the things are, how many things remain to be discovered, and that people can come along with us as we make these discoveries, I feel like our ability to appreciate the deep sea on a much wider scale is moving towards where it should have been all along,' Bolstad said.
NBC News
16-04-2025
- Science
- NBC News
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.
