Emily Chan
With water covering 71 percent of the Earth’s surface, sea creatures are in definite abundance. However, many of these animals are incredibly elusive since they live in the deep ocean, making them a challenge to study closely.
One of these mysterious entities is the colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni). It is believed to live in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. It weighs nearly 1,100 pounds and is as long as a bus by the time it reaches adulthood.
The colossal squid is considered the largest invertebrate species on Earth. Despite its enormous size, this creature had never been seen in its natural habitat until recently.
Last year, a group of scientists from a nonprofit called Kolossal managed to capture high-definition footage of what they believe to be a colossal squid.
The squid was spotted during one of the team’s four trips to Antarctica from December 2022 to March 2023. To get the video footage, they used a polar tourism vessel equipped with an underwater camera.
“The costs and logistical challenges to operate scientific research vessels prohibit the scaling of crucial science and discovery in the region. Yet, the tourism industry in Antarctica is growing rapidly, and collaboration between tourism companies and researchers provides important access to the region,” wrote the Kolossal team.
The scientists had been working onboard the Antarctic tourist boat Ocean Endeavour, where they shared quarters with 200 tourists. In total, they got 62 hours of footage.
During that time, they had to keep monitoring the camera lines to prevent them from getting caught on the sea ice, which was an extremely time-consuming process.
Finally, their efforts paid off because a young colossal squid appeared to swim by. However, it also could’ve been a different species, such as an adult glass squid called Galiteuthis glacialis.
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