Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Well, not this fella. He lives next door, though, and very, very deep down. Little is known about the life at the bottom of Earth’s deepest oceanic trenches, so imagine the surprise on the operators of this submersible when they discovered a rather odd, spindly squid casually clinging to the bottom of the sea – the bigfin squid. These odd creatures are the only squid known to live in the Hadal Zone, some 6,000 meters deep and below, although this one seemed quite happy at ‘mere’ Titanic depths.
The submersible, operated by Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre and Inkfish, was exploring the Tonga Trench when it made the sighting, 3,300 meters below the surface. While it’s not the first sub to have found the strange and mysterious creature, it is among a select few: there have only been a handful of sightings in recorded history, and until 2001 it was simply known as ‘mystery squid.’
Soon, the sub will venture even further down into the Tonga Trench (which is second only in depth to the Mariana Trench). It’s headed into the ominously named Horizon Deep. There’s never been any life found down there, despite having all the right elements. Scientists aren’t sure why it’s so mysteriously lifeless. Let’s hope there’s nothing too alien down there. Although judging by how weird our clarinet-enjoying friend here looks, there might be.
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