A mysterious creature never seen alive since its discovery in 1925 has now been filmed for the first time.
We knew the colossal squid existed, as it had been seen in the bellies of whales, but it had never been seen in its natural habitat – until now.
A crew on board the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor managed to capture it swimming in the depths between Argentina and Antarctica.
The 30cm baby squid was filmed near the South Sandwich Islands at a depths of around 600m, by a remotely piloted craft on March 9.
Video has now been released to the public, so we can watch what taxonomists have waited 100 years to see.
The mollusc, still transparent due to its young age, gracefully propells itself through the dark water using its tentacles.
Part of the glass squid family, adults are thought to grow up to seven metres long – almost four times as long as a 6ft human – and weigh as much as 500kg (almost 79 stone).
The species, officially known as Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, are the heaviest invertebrate on the planet, and gradually stop being see-through as they age.
Although some dying adults have been filmed after being pulled up by fisherman, they have never been seen alive in their natural habitat.
Dr Kat Bolstad of the Auckland University of Technology, who was consulted to verify the footage, said: ‘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.
‘For 100 years, we have mainly encountered them as prey remains in whale and seabird stomachs and as predators of harvested toothfish.’
The same team also took the first footage of the glacial glass squid in the Southern Ocean which surrounds Antarctica in January.
One of the distinguishing characteristics of colossal squid is hooks on the middle of their eight arms, which help differentiate them from glacial glass squids.
Otherwise, babies look quite similar, with transparent bodies and sharp hooks at the end of their two longer tentacles.
Schmidt Ocean Institute’s executive director, Dr. Jyotika Virmani, said: ‘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.
‘These unforgettable moments continue to remind us that the Ocean is brimming with mysteries yet to be solved.’
Haven’t we filmed squids like this before?
You might be getting confused with giant squids, another large and mysterious resident of the deep ocean.
In 2019, scientists were amazed and delighted to capture live footage of one swimming through the depths.
Researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) filmed a giant squid 100 miles off the coast of New Orleans.
They used an underwater camera system called Medusa, which uses red light to watch deep-sea creatures without disturbing them, in parts of the ocean so deep natural sunlight does not penetrate.
The team were conducting a mission titled ‘Journey into Midnight’ which involved exploring parts of the Gulf of Mexico below 3,800 feet, known as the bathypelagic – or midnight – zone.
‘Stealth monitoring of the sort possible with the Medusa can allow us to see what has never been seen before,’ they wrote in a blog post.
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