Latest news with #Gonatusantarcticus
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
This Squid Was Discovered in 1898. Scientists Just Saw It Alive For the First Time.
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: The Antarctic gonate squid, Gonatus antarcticus, had never been seen alive in the ocean until 2024, when it was filmed by an ROV late in the year. That footage has finally been released All that was known about this creature—which was first discovered in 1898—came from dead specimens that showed up in fishing nets. If it wasn't for hazardous weather that forced the expedition to stop short of the area it planned to cover, Gonatus antarcticus might have slipped into the darkness unnoticed. Far beneath the glaciers and ice floes of the Weddell Sea are dark Antarctic waters that have gone mostly uninfluenced by humans. Thousands of feet down lurk bizarre creatures: slithering deep-sea ribbon worms, siphonophores, sea pigs, and a species of squid that had never been seen alive until centuries after it first washed up on the shore. On board the Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor (too) in December of 2024, a team of scientists were exploring the Weddell Sea at depths of about 7,000 feet with the ROV SuBastian when they saw a flash of red in the darkness. Right at the edge of the Powell basin, SuBastian captured video footage of a massive squid drifting by and releasing a cloud of greenish ink. For the next few minutes, the squid floated around SuBastian, and the team managed to turn down the ROV's lights (to get an idea of how the squid interacts with its environment) and measure the creature using lasers before it shot away into the shadows. The squid sighting caught the attention of environmental scientist Kat Bolstad of Auckland University in New Zealand. When she later reviewed the video, she was able to identify the creature as Gonatus antarcticus, the elusive Antarctic gonate squid. 'This is, to the best of my knowledge, the first live footage of this animal worldwide,' Bolstad told National Geographic. Gonatus antarcticus had been discovered by Einar Lönnberg—a Swedish zoologist who had gone on an expedition to Tierra del Fuego—at the extreme southern tip of South America in 1898. He first discovered a deceased specimen stranded in the Strait of Magellan, and collected already dead specimens that had been entangled in fishing nets. Closer study revealed that the squid showed significant differences from close cousin Gonatus fabricii, which was the only known Gonatus species at the time. It was only from these observations (and beaks of the animal lodged in the stomachs of predators) that Lönnberg and the scientists who followed him were able to find out anything about this mysterious squid. Lönnberg described the new species of squid he discovered as having a 'very slender mantle, very long tail, and soft body' with 'long, narrow fins, long stout tentacles and small tentacle clubs.' Its arms were 'short, thick and muscular' while its tentacles were 'long with relatively small club[s], large central hook[s] and medium-size distal hook[s].' At three feet long, the Antarctic gonate squid may not grow to the enormity of the giant squid or the equally-ellusive colossal squid (which was also first seen alive by SuBastian in January of 2025), but it is still a rare find. So little is known about the numbers and whereabouts of these cephalopods that it is difficult to gauge how many populate the Southern Sea. What G. antarcticus does have in common with its larger cousins, however, is its red coloration, which is actually a clever type of camouflage shared by many creatures in the twilight and midnight zones. Wavelengths of red light cannot penetrate waters so deep, so they appear black and just about invisible to predators. It seemed that the squid on SuBastian's footage had possibly gotten into a scuffle with something larger—possibly a colossal squid, based on the scratches along its mantle that suspiciously resembled hook marks. The squid might have never been discovered if it hadn't been for hazardous weather conditions that Christmas Eve. On an expedition sponsored by the National Geographic Society as a part of their Rolex Perpetual Planet Ocean Expeditions partnership, the team was planning to look into the unexplored Powell Basin—an abyssal plain that reaches nearly ten thousand feet deep. But an onslaught of ice made them rethink their plans, and they decide to drop SuBastian just outside the basin instead. 'What are the odds?" researcher Manuel Novillo from Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal (who was also a member of Bolstad's team) told National Geographic. 'We were not supposed to be there and not at that precise moment.' You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
NDTV
12-06-2025
- Science
- NDTV
Rare Blood-Red Squid Seen Alive For The First Time Off Antarctica
Researchers have filmed a rare species of deep-sea squid off Antarctica that has been seen alive for the first time, announced National Geographic. The Antarctic gonate squid (Gonatus antarcticus) was captured moving 7,060 feet below the surface in the ocean's midnight zone. The three-foot-long squid was captured on December 25, 2024. The team of scientists and technical experts onboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute's ship RV Falkor (too) spotted the blood-red creature. Manuel Novillo, a postdoctoral researcher at Instituto de Diversidad y Ecologia Animal who was aboard the ship, said, as quoted in the report, "It was our mission critical." They were planning to take the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to the Powell Basin, which is an unexplored abyssal plain that plummets to around 9,800 feet deep. However, they had to postpone the launch because of the sea ice. Novillo said, "The ice blocks were moving so fast, it would put all the ships in danger, so we had to rearrange everything." Hence, the researchers chose a new site at the outer edge of the Powell Basin for the next day when they witnessed a squid that had "never been seen alive". Behold the first ever recording of a deep-sea squid: The Gonatus antarcticus! For more on this story, visit: — USA TODAY Video (@usatodayvideo) June 10, 2025 Gonatus antarcticus, an elusive cephalopod found only in the frigid waters around Antarctica, the report said. Novillo's team sent the footage to Kat Bolstad, who is the head of the Lab for Cephalopod Ecology and Systematics at Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand. She confirmed it was an Antarctic gonate squid. "This is, to the best of my knowledge, the first live footage of this animal worldwide," she says.
CNN
12-06-2025
- Science
- CNN
Rare deep-sea squid filmed alive for first time
Scientists have captured the first-ever footage of the elusive Gonatus antarcticus squid alive in its deep-sea habitat. CNN's Jeremy Roth describes the rare encounter.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Elusive deep-sea squid caught on camera for the first time: Watch
An elusive deep-sea squid species was caught on camera for the first time ever in a major breakthrough. National Geographic, on June 10, revealed the "history-making sighting" of a massive, three-foot long deep-sea squid, which has never before been seen alive, saying the first-ever video footage of the Gonatus antarcticus was captured "on Christmas Day by the Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel, the R/V Falkor (too)." Schmidt Ocean Institute, a nonprofit organization, is focused on ocean research, discovery, and knowledge. The "surprise moment" was "caught on camera via the research vessel's remotely operated vehicle (ROV), SuBastian," in the Southern Ocean, National Geographic said in a press release. Manuel Novillo, a postdoctoral researcher at Argentina's Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal, who was aboard the ship, told NatGeo the expedition wasn't even meant to be in the area that day. But adverse weather conditions and treacherous sea ice forced them to choose a new site at the outer edge of the Powell Basin, instead of inside the "unexplored abyssal plain," which has a depth of approximately 9,800 feet. On Christmas morning, as Novillo watched a live video feed of the expedition's remote vehicle, SuBastian, traveling 7,000 feet through the ocean's depth towards the seabed, he spotted a shadow which caught his attention. Novilla asked the pilot to get closer and 'voila, it appeared,' he told NatGeo. 'What are the odds?' Novillo said about the experience. 'We were not supposed to be there and not at that precise moment. Prior to the sighting, the Gonatus antarcticus was only known from carcasses in fishing nets or when the squids' beaks were found in the stomach of fished marine animals, NatGeo said. Watch: Young colossal squid captured on video in its natural habitat for the first time Alex Hayward, senior lecturer at the University of Exeter in England, told National Geographic that deep-sea squids have good eyesight and usually avoid the lights of a research vessel, making it impossible to spot them. 'We want to see them, but they probably don't want to see us most of the time,' she told the publication. The Gonatus antarcticus squid, which has a red and bluish appearance and is characterized by a large single central hook on each tentacle club, is found only in the frigid waters around Antarctica, according to NatGeo. It was spotted at a depth of approximately 2152 meters in the Southern Ocean's Weddell Sea. Researchers, however, have not been able to confirm the squid's sex or age from the footage. Novillo told the publication that the squid released a small cloud of greenish ink as it was spotted, perhaps startled by the vehicle. The squid also had scratches on its arms and fresh-looking sucker marks on its mantle, hinting at some kind of recent predation attempt that it may have managed to escape. During the expedition, the research team also mapped several previously unexplored sites throughout the Southern Ocean and collected various samples of sediment, water, and biota for research purposes, NatGeo said. Part of the expedition was to examine the impact of climate and environmental change in and around the Weddell Sea, "an area prioritized for marine protection and one of the few near-pristine ecosystems on the planet." Earlier, in March, crew members on board a research vessel operated by Schmidt Ocean Institute in the South Atlantic Ocean recorded a video of the world's largest squid species. The nearly one-foot-long juvenile colossal squid was spotted floating at a depth of approximately 1968 feet below the waters around the South Sandwich Islands, a volcanic archipelago located between the tip of South America and Antarctica. Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@ and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Deep-sea squid species caught on camera for the first time: Watch
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Deep Sea Squid Caught on Camera Alive for the First Time. The Astonishing Footage Wasn't Planned
Scientists on a research expedition in the Southern Ocean captured the very first footage of a living Gonatus antarcticus squid The colorful, three-foot squid species was only known to scientists previously by its remains in fishing nets and larger mammals' stomachs The expedition also mapped ocean depths up to 4000 meters, collected samples of plant and animal life, and tracked a range of underwater terrainsScientists have captured the first images of a live Antarctic squid! Researchers on an expedition in the Southern Ocean obtained the first known footage of a living Gonatus antarcticus squid, according to a press release from National Geographic on June 10. The three-foot-long specimen of the elusive species, which is only found in the icy waters around Antarctica, was filmed on Christmas Day 2024, and scientists are now sharing those findings with National Geographic and the world. Footage of the mysterious creature was taken by chance. Scientists aboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel, R/V Falkor (too), sent the vessel's remotely operated vehicle (ROV), SuBastian, to explore the depths of the frigid Southern Ocean. The ROV was in the right place at the right time and managed to film a passing Gonatus antarcticus squid. Before this, the cephalopod's existence was only known because its remains appeared in fishing nets and the stomachs of larger marine animals. Images from the exciting encounter, which occurred 2152 meters (1.34 miles) deep in the Weddell Sea, show the vibrantly-colored squid with scratches and sucker marks on its body. Aside from these minor wounds, the squid appears to be in good health, according to National Geographic. Footage of the squid also shows the large single central hook found on each tentacle, a characteristic researchers used to confirm that the sighting was indeed of a Gonatus antarcticus squid. During the expedition, the research team also collected samples of plant life, organisms, sediment, and water, and mapped previously undiscovered depths that reached 4000 meters (roughly 2.5 miles deep), including terrains of "abyssal plains, hydrothermal vents, troughs, canyon walls and sea ice," per the release. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. The Weddell Sea — part of the Southern Ocean, just southeast of the southern tip of South America — where the squid was found is considered "one of the few near-pristine ecosystems on the planet." The R/V Falkor (too) and National Geographic Explorers went to the far-flung spot as part of the National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Ocean Expedition, which aims to provide a comprehensive scientific examination of the impact of climate change on the Earth's "few near-pristine ecosystems." Footage of the squid and other moments from this expedition will be used in a future National Geographic documentary. To read more about this impressive squid sighting and the work it took to capture it, read more at Read the original article on People
