Scientists are left in disbelief after a nearly one foot long colossal squid was filmed for the first time in its natural environment, a hundred years after its discovery.
The so-called Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni was located by an international research team on board Schmidt Ocean Institute’s Falkor (too) vessel on 9 March.
Never ask me to pronounce that name.
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Anyhow, coming in at 30cm, the colossal squid was captured on video by the Institute’s remotely operated vehicle (ROV) SuBastian on a 35-day expedition near the South Sandwich Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean.
What makes it so colossal is that the squid has the capability to grow up to seven meters (23 feet) in length.
It can also weigh as much as 500 kilograms (1100 lbs), the longer it lives on. This means that it's the heaviest animal without a backbone on the planet.
“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 Dr Kat Bolstad of the Auckland University of Technology.
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“For 100 years, we have mainly encountered them as prey remains in whale and seabird stomachs and as predators of harvested toothfish.”
You can see the footage here:
According to the institute, little is known of a colossal squid's life cycle, however, because of this squid's see-through appearance, it has been determined to be a juvenile. They go on to say that eventually it will lose its glassy appearance.
But this isn't the only notable squid sighting, as in January, another member of the glass squid family (Cranchiidae) was discovered by the same vessel near Antarctica.
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Known as 'G. glacialis,' it happens to be another glass squid species that has never been seen alive in its natural environment before.
Dr Bolstad and Dr Aaron Evans, another expert on the glass squid family, said the one of most notable difference between the colossal squid and the other one is the presence of hooks on the middle of their eight arms.
“It’s incredible that we can leverage the power of the taxonomic community through R/V Falkor (too) telepresence while we are out at sea,” said the expedition’s chief scientist, Dr. Michelle Taylor, who led The Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census team on the South Sandwich Islands expedition (via Schmidt Ocean Institute).
Dr Taylor, of the University of Essex, added: “The Ocean Census international science network is proud to work together with the Schmidt Ocean Institute to accelerate species discovery and expand our knowledge of ocean life, live online with the world’s science community.”
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“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,” noted Schmidt Ocean Institute’s executive director, Dr. Jyotika Virmani.
“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.”
The discovery by the Schmidt Ocean Institute was in collaboration with the Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census and GoSouth.
Topics: Animals, World News, Environment
Anish Vij