First footage of Colossal Squid captured on Essex-led expedition

An international team of scientists led by a University of Essex researcher is the first to film the colossal squid in its natural environment.

The 30-centimetre juvenile squid was captured on video at a depth of 600 metres by a remotely operated vehicle launched from the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor (too).

The March 9 sighting took place  on an expedition near the South Sandwich Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean and took place on the 100-year anniversary of the identification and formal naming of the colossal squid, a member of the glass squid family (Cranchiidae).

Watch the footage below -

Dr Michelle Taylor led the voyage to the region near Antarctica, which is so secluded the nearest humans were hundreds of miles away in orbit on the International Space Station.

The School of Life Sciences researcher was joined by PhD student Oenone Scott - who described the trip as a "dream come true".

The 35-day expedition that captured the footage of the colossal squid was an Ocean Census flagship expedition searching for new marine life – a collaboration between Schmidt Ocean Institute, the Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census, and GoSouth, a joint project between the University of Plymouth (UK), GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research (Germany), and the British Antarctic Survey.

“It’s incredible that we can leverage the power of the taxonomic community through R/V Falkor (too) telepresence while we are out at sea,” said the expedition’s chief scientist, Dr  Taylor, who led The Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census team on the South Sandwich Islands expedition.

“The Ocean Census international science network is proud to work together with the Schmidt Ocean Institute to accelerate species discovery and expand our knowledge of ocean life, live online with the world’s science community.”

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Colossal squid are estimated to grow up to seven meters (23 feet) in length and can weigh as much as 500 kilograms (1100 lbs), making them the heaviest invertebrate on the planet.

Little is known about the colossal squid’s life cycle, but eventually, they lose the see-through appearance of the juveniles.

Dying adults have previously been filmed by fishermen, but have never been seen alive at depth.

Additionally, on January 25 a team on the previous Falkor (too) expedition filmed the first confirmed footage of the glacial glass squid (Galiteuthis glacialis) in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica. G. glacialis is another glass squid species that has never been seen alive in its natural environment before.