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.
