- A group of scientists onboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor captured a video of a colossal squid, the heaviest invertebrate on the planet, in the South Atlantic Ocean
- It’s the first time the species has been seen on camera in its natural habitat since it was discovered 100 years ago
- Scientists believe the colossal squid they filmed is a baby, as it was only about a foot long. An adult colossal squid can grow up to 23 feet in length
For a century, scientists have only speculated about what a baby colossal squid looks like — now they finally got a chance to see one up close.
A group of scientists onboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute research vessel Falkor captured a video of the species on camera in its natural habitat for the first time since it was discovered 100 years ago, according to a press release from the nonprofit research organization.
“These unforgettable moments continue to remind us that the ocean is brimming with mysteries yet to be solved,” Schmidt Ocean Institute’s executive director, Dr. Jyotika Virmani, said in the release.
The video was captured on March 9, about 2,000 feet beneath the ocean’s surface near the South Sandwich Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, during an “expedition searching for new marine life,” according to the Schmidt Ocean Institute. The nonprofit noted that fishermen had previously filmed the dying adult colossal squids near the ocean’s surface, but the species had “never been seen alive at depth.”
Michelle Taylor, the expedition’s chief scientist, shared in a press conference, per Scientific American, that the crew decided to film the creature “because it was beautiful and unusual” before continuing their exploration lower in the ocean’s depths, and noted that they didn’t realize the significance of the sighting until several days later.
“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 Auckland University of Technology’s Dr. Kat Bolstad, one of the independent scientific experts the team consulted to verify the footage, per the release. “For 100 years, we have mainly encountered them as prey remains in whale and seabird stomachs and as predators of harvested toothfish.”
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The scientists noted that the colossal squid, which measured nearly a foot in length, was likely a “juvenile” or baby. An adult of the species is estimated to grow up to 23 feet or 7 meters in length and can weigh up to 1100 lbs., per the Schmidt Ocean Institute, making it the heaviest invertebrate on the planet.
“This is one of the planet’s true giants, living in one of our most pristine marine ecosystems,” Bolstad said, per the Scientific American. “It’s a source of fascination and wonder and plays a huge role in Antarctic food webs.”
The baby colossal squid also had a “see-through appearance,” which the Schmidt Ocean Institute noted disappears as the creature ages. Among the species’ “distinguishing characteristics” is “the presence of hooks on the middle of their eight arms,” which is unique from other glass squid species.
“To get footage of a juvenile is so wonderful,” said expert Dr. Aaron Evans, who helped identify the species, at a press conference discussing the footage, per Scientific American. “So 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 and enigmatic animal.”
In January, a Schmidt Ocean Institute expedition in the Bellingshausen Sea filmed a glacial glass squid. The footage, taken more than 2,200 feet underwater, showed the creature positioning “its arms loosely above its head,” similar to other creatures of the same species.
“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,” Virmani said in a press release. “Fortunately, we caught enough high-resolution imagery of these creatures to allow the global experts, who were not on the vessel, to identify both species.”
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