Little is known about most magnapinnid, or bigfin squid, species. The individual pictured here was spotted by the NOAA ship Okeanos Explorer in the Gulf of Mexico. Recently, a magnapinnid was filmed in the Philippine Trench - the deepest ever sighting of a squid. Photo Credit: NOAA
Animals PhilippinesDivers Explore a Ship – and Find a Rare Squid!
On their way to explore a shipwreck in the Philippine Trench, located east of the Philippines, a team of deep-sea divers made a rare encounter at such depth: with a bigfin squid.
The bigfin squid, also known as the magnapinnid, is one of the most mysterious squids in the world.
“They’re really weird,” says Mike Vecchione, a zoologist at the Smithsonian Institution. “They drift along with their arms spread out and these really long, skinny, spaghetti-like extensions dangling down underneath them.”
The team from Caladan Oceanic was looking for the USS Johnston which sank in 1944. Upon looking at the footage taken 6,212 meters below the surface by the submersible, they saw a recognizable form. Since squids are top predators, this rare encounter suggests that many other life forms exist at such depth, and deep reaches should be better understood in order to better protect them.
