Colossal Squid: World's largest-eyed animal filmed alive for the first time

A baby Colossal Squid, the animal which has stayed in mystery for more than 100 years, was just captured alive in the deep sea in Antarctica. The discovery which comes just months after the filming of Black Sea devil, and doomsday fish another deep-sea creatures has sparked a wave of curiosity and excitement among worldwide ocean enthusiasts 

How was the discovery of the colossal squid made? 

The footage of the creature was taken by a remotely operated vehicle named SuBastian, near Antarctica. The video shot by the vehicle revealed the squid with a translucent blue body and orange-speckled arms.   

Discovered for the first time in a century  

The squid has been in mystery for more than 100 years, when it was discovered for the first time. Although humans knew of the creature for a while, it was not until now that the creature was discovered alive. The creature was only seen dead or injured since then, which was also brought up accidently by fishing vessels or in the stomachs of their predators.   

The footage taken at a depth of nearly 2000 feet, was studied and reviewed by Kat Bolstad and Aaron Evans, two of the renowned marine biologists who confirmed the sighting and claimed that the distinctive arm hooks of the animal made them clear of the discovery.   

Features of the Colossal Squid  

The colossal squid, although it seems to be small in the video, in reality it is one of the largest sea creatures alive. It weighs between 500-700 kgs and is considered as the heaviest living invertebrate. The colossal squid also has the largest eyes documented ever in the animal kingdom with a diameter of 30 cm.   

As the scientist made this discovery, it is expected to fuel even further research into the creature and other deep sea creatures to understand the ocean even better.   

Netizens laud the scientists 

In response to this major discovery, netizens also lauded the scientists and cited their views while viewing the creature for the first time alive.  

A user on YouTube wrote, “For squid researchers this is a huge and thrilling excitement! When some of us in the Livestream Oceanographic discord saw this we narrowed it down to Mesonychoteuthis and Galiteuthis, but we were pretty sure it was Mesonychoteuthis, so we are glad to see it confirmed!!”  

Another user stated that he had been waiting to see this since his childhood, “I've been waiting to see this since I was a child, 30 years ago... So beautiful, I'm so grateful for the researcher's hard work.”   

“I've been waiting to see this thing my entire life, you read about it, you hear stories about it... Gorgeous creature,” wrote another user.