See it: First confirmed footage of swimming colossal squid recorded in waters off Antarctica
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KING EDWARD POINT, South Sandwich Islands – A colossal squid was recently filmed for the first time – and it’s a baby, according to officials with the Schmidt Ocean Institute.
Measuring nearly 1 foot long, the baby squid was spotted at a depth of almost 2,000 feet near the South Sandwich Islands between South America and Antarctica.
The squid has been known to science for 100 years, but this recording is the first confirmed filming of the animal in its natural environment.
"It’s exciting to see the first in situ footage of a juvenile colossal and humbling to think that they have no idea that humans exist," said Dr. Kat Bolstad of the Auckland University of Technology, one of the independent scientific experts the team consulted to verify the footage.
Bolstad noted that for a century, colossal squid had only been known as prey remains in whale and seabird stomachs and as predators of harvested toothfish.
As suggested by their name, colossal squid can grow to be rather large, measuring up to 23 feet long, or greater than a 2-story building.
The video recording was made by scientists and crew with the Schmidt Ocean Institute, who had deployed their remotely operated vehicle SuBastian in March as part of their expedition.
The colossal squid recording comes merely 2 months after another historic first, in which the Schmidt Ocean Institute filmed the first confirmed footage of the glass squid off the coast of Antarctica.
Original article source: See it: First confirmed footage of swimming colossal squid recorded in waters off Antarctica