An elusive deep-sea squid has been filmed in a rare encounter off the coast of California, marking the first time the species has been spotted in the northeastern Pacific region.
Scientists aboard the research vessel David Packard were studying seamounts near the California coast and sent a remotely operated vehicle to survey the seafloor. That’s when they found the deep-sea bigfin squid, Magnapinna sp, about 3,277m below the surface.
The squid was hovering above the seafloor, with its characteristic pair of large fins, eight trailing arms, and two tentacles.
Researchers estimated the squid at about 1.25m long from the top of the body to the ends of the arms.
“I was sitting right next to the screens in the control room when I saw what looked like tentacles coming into the top corner of the video,” Olívia Soares Pereira, a researcher from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, said.
“I thought it might be a cool jelly, but as soon as the little ‘elbows’ appeared, I knew exactly who this was and immediately screamed ‘Magnapinna!’ before the rest of the squid even came into the screen.”
The expedition was meant to use diverse technologies to better understand ocean life on underwater mountains called seamounts, which can deflect currents and concentrate nutrients to support life on their rocky slopes.
Researchers particularly probed the Davidson Seamount, about 130km southwest of Monterey, California, which was already known to feature lush gardens of deep-sea corals that supported a bustling deep-sea octopus nursery.
They sought to determine if mysterious furrows on the muddy seafloor near the mount were created by beaked whales.
“I was focused on the seafloor and all of a sudden an elegant creature with undulating, angel-like ‘wings’ swam into my view,” ecologist Andrew DeVogelaere from the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, said. “I was stunned.”
“This is the first confirmed bigfin squid sighting in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and a powerful reminder of what we still have to discover in the ocean’s depths,” Dr DeVogelaere added.
“We live next door to a magical place.”
Dr Pereira said that the finding was particularly significant as only about 70 bigfin squid had ever been observed or collected before. “Each sighting is such a privilege and highlights the incredible diversity of life that thrives in the unknown deep underwater and needs our protection.”