Nature & Environment

Incredible footage shows rare Antarctic squid for the first time

By T.K. Randall
August 25, 2025

Image: Antarctica - Petermann Island
Credit: W. Bulach / CC BY-SA 4.0 (adapted) Spotted more than 7,000ft beneath the cold waters of the Southern Ocean, the elusive cephalopod was filmed by a remote-operated vehicle (ROV) deployed by the Schmidt Ocean Institute research vessel R/V Falkor.

The crew had been planning to look for signs of life in the depths of Powell Basin at Antarctica's northern tip, but were forced to deploy elsewhere due to thick ice blocking their way.

The creature - an Antarctic gonate squid - had never been filmed alive before now.

"This is, to the best of my knowledge, the first live footage of this animal worldwide," squid expert Kate Bolstad of the Auckland University of Technology told National Geographic.Usually, the only evidence found of these creatures is their remains caught up in fishing nets.

The squid is one of a growing number of known animals to spend almost their entire lives in the deep ocean where no light penetrates - a place enveloped at all times in perpetual, inky blackness.

It is only now thanks to advances in technology that we have been able to catch a glimpse of the creatures that reside in this environment.

Given how large this region actually is, however, we have barely even scratched the surface.


Source: Mail Online

Tags: Squid