Researchers have filmed a rare bigfin squid alive in the northeastern Pacific for the first time, capturing the mysterious animal more than 10,000 feet below the ocean surface off California. Scientists recorded the squid on Aug. 7 near Davidson Seamount, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) southwest of Monterey. It was hovering above the seafloor at a depth of about 10,751 feet (3,277 meters).
The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, or MBARI, discovered it with collaborators from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Rare squid strikes unusual ‘elbow pose’
The team was operating MBARI’s remotely operated vehicle Doc Ricketts when the squid appeared. Researchers were taking part in a 10-day expedition to study life around Davidson Seamount and Sur Ridge. The bigfin squid, from the genus Magnapinna, measured about 4.1 feet (1.25 meters) from its body to the ends of its long arms and tentacles.
Olívia Soares Pereira, a deep-sea ecologist and postdoctoral fellow at MBARI, said the animal hovered with its arms and tentacles bent at roughly 90-degree angles. Researchers call the unusual position the “elbow pose.”
Scientists believe the posture could play a role in feeding. Pereira said keeping the limbs extended may prevent them from becoming tangled while allowing the squid to passively capture prey that touches them.
Researchers have not confirmed the purpose of the behavior. Other elusive cephalopods also rarely offer scientists a chance for close observation. A rare deep-sea blanket octopus was recently spotted off the Greek island of Evia, far from its usual open-water habitat.
Among the deepest squid ever found
Bigfin squid are the deepest-dwelling squid known to science. Researchers have recorded them more than 20,000 feet (6,000 meters) below the surface. Scientists continue to uncover unusual animals at such extreme depths, including a previously unknown creature discovered deep in the Pacific Ocean.
Deep beneath the Pacific, scientists filmed an incredibly rare bigfin squid at 3,277 metres, the first confirmed live observation of one in the Northeastern Pacific. pic.twitter.com/80lzKgc8wY
— Earth (@earthcurated) September 6, 2026
Their unusually long arms and tentacles can reach about 20 times the length of their bodies. Yet sightings remain extremely rare. Only about 70 bigfin squid have been observed or collected worldwide, according to MBARI.
Deep-water squid occasionally appear under very different circumstances. Earlier this year, a massive European flying squid washed ashore in Cyprus, highlighting another species that normally spends much of its life in deeper waters.
MBARI last encountered a bigfin squid near Hawaii in 2001. Pereira also saw two earlier this year during a Schmidt Ocean Institute expedition to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Unexpected discovery highlights deep-sea diversity
The latest encounter came during MBARI’s Seamount Hotspots expedition from Aug. 3 to Aug. 12. Researchers were studying deep-sea corals, sponges, brooding octopuses and feeding beaked whales around Davidson Seamount and Sur Ridge.
Both areas are biodiversity hotspots within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. A bigfin squid was not among the animals researchers expected to find.
“Finding a rare animal that we weren’t specifically looking for highlights the incredible diversity and habitat complexity of this region,” Pereira said.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
