٠٠:٠١:٠٦Mandatory credit: Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre and Inkfish
A bigfin squid, also known as Magnapinna squid and believed to be the deepest-dwelling squid, was filmed in Tonga Trench at a depth of 3,300 metres (10,827 feet) last Thursday by Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre and Inkfish.
Footage shows the squid with long tentacles approaching a camera with a fish attached as bait and quickly swimming away from the area.
The video was captured during the ongoing Tonga Trench Expedition 2024 that has been running from July to October 2024. The voyage uses submersibles and deep-sea landers to research the Tonga Trench, the world's second-deepest oceanic trench after the Mariana Trench.
Bigfin squids are distinguished by their spindly tentacles that drape from their bodies, reaching up to 8 metres (26 feet) in length, and their alien-like look coming from their semi-transparent pinkish-red body and deep purple eyes.
It is the first squid known to live in the hadal zone, the ocean's deepest section, which begins at 6,000 metres (19,685 feet) below the surface. These zones account for 45 percent of the ocean's depth range but just 1 percent of the seabed area, as they are only found in oceanic trenches far beneath the rest of the seafloor.
According to media reports, there have only been around 20 recorded encounters with the species within the past two decades. Due to that, the bigfin squids' life cycle remains mostly unknown for the oceanography.
Under the sea - Deepest-living squid caught on camera 3,300m down in Tonga Trench
A bigfin squid, also known as Magnapinna squid and believed to be the deepest-dwelling squid, was filmed in Tonga Trench at a depth of 3,300 metres (10,827 feet) last Thursday by Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre and Inkfish.
Footage shows the squid with long tentacles approaching a camera with a fish attached as bait and quickly swimming away from the area.
The video was captured during the ongoing Tonga Trench Expedition 2024 that has been running from July to October 2024. The voyage uses submersibles and deep-sea landers to research the Tonga Trench, the world's second-deepest oceanic trench after the Mariana Trench.
Bigfin squids are distinguished by their spindly tentacles that drape from their bodies, reaching up to 8 metres (26 feet) in length, and their alien-like look coming from their semi-transparent pinkish-red body and deep purple eyes.
It is the first squid known to live in the hadal zone, the ocean's deepest section, which begins at 6,000 metres (19,685 feet) below the surface. These zones account for 45 percent of the ocean's depth range but just 1 percent of the seabed area, as they are only found in oceanic trenches far beneath the rest of the seafloor.
According to media reports, there have only been around 20 recorded encounters with the species within the past two decades. Due to that, the bigfin squids' life cycle remains mostly unknown for the oceanography.
Mandatory credit: Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre and Inkfish
A bigfin squid, also known as Magnapinna squid and believed to be the deepest-dwelling squid, was filmed in Tonga Trench at a depth of 3,300 metres (10,827 feet) last Thursday by Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre and Inkfish.
Footage shows the squid with long tentacles approaching a camera with a fish attached as bait and quickly swimming away from the area.
The video was captured during the ongoing Tonga Trench Expedition 2024 that has been running from July to October 2024. The voyage uses submersibles and deep-sea landers to research the Tonga Trench, the world's second-deepest oceanic trench after the Mariana Trench.
Bigfin squids are distinguished by their spindly tentacles that drape from their bodies, reaching up to 8 metres (26 feet) in length, and their alien-like look coming from their semi-transparent pinkish-red body and deep purple eyes.
It is the first squid known to live in the hadal zone, the ocean's deepest section, which begins at 6,000 metres (19,685 feet) below the surface. These zones account for 45 percent of the ocean's depth range but just 1 percent of the seabed area, as they are only found in oceanic trenches far beneath the rest of the seafloor.
According to media reports, there have only been around 20 recorded encounters with the species within the past two decades. Due to that, the bigfin squids' life cycle remains mostly unknown for the oceanography.