Overview
- The Schmidt Ocean Institute's ROV SuBastian documented a live juvenile giant squid, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, at 600 meters depth near the South Sandwich Islands in March 2025.
- The juvenile, approximately 30 cm long, displayed near-transparency, iridescent eyes, and delicate, fanned arms, challenging its common portrayal as a 'monster of the deep.'
- Distinctive arm hooks confirmed the species' identity, distinguishing it from other glass squid relatives like Galiteuthis glacialis, filmed earlier this year.
- This marks the fourth confirmed deep-sea squid species captured on video by SuBastian, showcasing the potential of modern submersible technology in exploring Earth's largely unknown deep-sea biodiversity.
- The discovery highlights the deep sea's vast, untapped ecosystem, which constitutes 95% of Earth's habitable volume and may host hundreds of thousands of undiscovered species.