Source: Ocean Exploration and Research
Researchers with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) managed to catch a glimpse of a giant squid on video via their underwater camera system Medusa during their Journey into Midnight: Light and Life Below the Twilight Zone expedition.
In the 28 second video, the creature approaches Medusa, investigates the strange unfamiliarity, then swims off into the darkness. This is the second giant squid in history to have been filmed alive and the first filmed in US waters.
Interesting enough, that’s not only bizarre incident to occur that day. According to the team’s blog post, after 30 minutes of the recording, lightning struck their ship. Although no one was injured by the unexpected force of nature, the researchers scrambled to check the Medusa computer to make sure all of their data was still intact. Thankfully everything was perfectly okay and they were afforded the opportunity to share this truly amazing video with the world.
The mission of the expedition states:
From June 8 – 22, a team of researchers will explore the water column in some of the deepest parts of the Gulf of Mexico in order to determine what happens to deep-sea animals when a very important constraint is taken away from them – that of light. They will make observations and collect samples for further study on the characterization of visual systems, bioluminescence, and fluorescence of organisms living below 1,000 meters (3,280 feet), in the bathypelagic (midnight) zone.
Source: Ocean Exploration and Research
If you’re interesting in seeing more about the expedition, please feel free to visit their image and video gallery.
