Colossal Squid Finally Caught on Camera in the Deep Ocean

For over a century, the colossal squid has been one of the deep sea’s most slippery enigmas. Known mostly through bits and pieces found in whale bellies and a handful of dying adults spotted by fishers, this 23-foot-long (7-meter-long) legend has long evaded a proper close-up. Until now. On March 9, aboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor (too), researchers caught their white whale—er, squid. A juvenile colossal squid measuring about a foot (30 centimeters) was filmed alive near the South Sandwich Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Researchers spotted the squid with the institute’s remotely operated vehicle SuBastian, which captured footage of the animal in its natural habitat around 2,000 feet (609 meters) deep. This is the first confirmed footage ever of the squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni), which is the heavyweight champ of the invertebrates, in the wild. The squids can weigh more than half a ton (453 kilograms), but despite their size, are elusive and difficult ... Read full article.