Marine Explorers Make 'Colossal' Find in Ocean Depths

Say hello to the colossal squid.

They are the world’s heaviest invertebrates. They can reach lengths of up to 23 feet and weigh as much as 1,000 pounds. But much about them remains a mystery. To date, experts have only been able to study their remains. Most often, those are found washed up on beaches. Sometimes they are found tangled in fishing nets or in the bellies of sperm whales. Sperm whales feed on squid. But the very first video footage of a colossal squid ever recorded promises to shed light on the dwellers of the deep.       

“First confirmed footage of a colossal squid — and it’s a baby!” researchers at the Schmidt Ocean Institute announced in a press release Monday. 

The video of the juvenile colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) was captured by the SuBastian unmanned submarine. It found the squid in the deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean off the South Sandwich Islands. The footage shows the outline of a foot-long squid. It clearly shows its tentacles waving. Twin points of red bioluminescence marking a pair of large eyes can also be seen. The video was taken at a depth of 1,968 feet.   

“The features needed to identify it as the species are clearly visible,” Kathrin Bolstad told The Washington Post about the footage. She's a cephalopod expert at the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand. Bolstad helped ID the creature based on “a combination of hooks and suckers that is unique to the colossal squid.”  

Mature squid live in even deeper waters. There, they use their massive eyes to hunt prey and spot hungry whales. Adult colossal squid eyes can be as large as soccer balls. That makes them the largest peepers of any known creature on Earth.   

Reflect: Why might it be important to keep exploring places we know little about?

Gif of footage of juvenile colossal squid courtesy Schmidt Ocean Institute.