Scientists film rare bigfin squid deep off Monterey during seamount expedition
A research team off Monterey captured live footage of a bigfin squid, a rarely seen deep-sea creature, at two miles depth in the northeast Pacific.
While investigating the whale-dug furrows of Davidson Seamount, a small-car-sized underwater drone hovered six feet above the seafloor and encountered a pinkish bigfin squid two miles deep. Olívia Soares Pereira, a postdoctoral researcher, first thought the creature was a jellyfish, but the monitor revealed the characteristic “elbow” of the elusive Magnapinna, prompting her to record video. Senior researcher Andrew DeVogelaere described the moment as mesmerizing.
This August 7 encounter is the inaugural live sighting of the species in the northeast Pacific and adds to the roughly 70 documented observations worldwide. The mission, a joint effort by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, also collected water samples for environmental DNA and left hydrophones to capture whale sounds for future analysis.
Why it matters
The footage provides rare insight into a little-known deep-sea species, advancing marine biology and ocean-exploration knowledge.
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