Marine Biologists Film a Mysterious Octopus on the Ocean Floor

Amaze Lab

Just in time for Halloween, the ocean’s mysterious depths are giving us one heck of a spooky treat. This video was taken in the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 15,750 feet, revealing a creature only ever seen a couple of times before.

Transcript

00:00Just in time for Halloween, the ocean's mysterious depths are giving us one heck

00:08of a spooky treat. This video was recently captured by the Minderloo UWA

00:12Deep Sea Research Center and this is an octopus often referred to as the big-eye

00:17jellyhead. This video was taken in the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 15,750 feet

00:23or nearly three miles underwater. This is one of the few observations of this

00:28creature biologists have ever made directly, meaning we actually don't know

00:31very much about it. What we do know is that females can grow upwards of around

00:35five and a half feet long. Their bouncing locomotion is also a signature of their

00:39serrate octopus family, hopping along the ocean floor in search of food. In fact,

00:43researchers have recently described its cousin, the big fin jellyhead, as having

00:47an identical movement pattern, hopping along and grabbing any prey it happens

00:51to bounce upon in the process. However, that one lives in much shallower waters.

00:55It's a mesmerizing and delicate dance, one used to snare other creatures in the epic

00:59depths of the ocean. Just one more of the many secrets still yet to be discovered

01:03on our planet's final frontier.

Category

Transcript

Recommended