{"id":52123,"date":"2026-10-19T15:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T19:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/?p=52123"},"modified":"2026-10-15T14:18:44","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T18:18:44","slug":"mbari-scientists-surveying-an-ancient-undersea-volcano-off-california-filmed-a-bigfin-squid-10751-feet-down-the-first-live-sighting-in-the-northeastern-pacific-and-only-about-70-are-on-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/mbari-scientists-surveying-an-ancient-undersea-volcano-off-california-filmed-a-bigfin-squid-10751-feet-down-the-first-live-sighting-in-the-northeastern-pacific-and-only-about-70-are-on-record\/52123\/","title":{"rendered":"MBARI scientists surveying an ancient undersea volcano off California filmed a bigfin squid 10,751 feet down, the first live sighting in the northeastern Pacific, and only about 70 are on record"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ol\u00edvia Soares Pereira was sitting beside the video screens aboard the research vessel David Packard when something pale drifted into the top corner of the feed. Before the rest of the animal had even come into view, she shouted the name of a bigfin squid, a deep-sea animal that, by MBARI’s count, has been observed or collected only about 70 times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sighting happened during MBARI’s August 3\u201312, 2026, Seamount Hotspots expedition near Davidson Seamount, an ancient undersea volcano about 80 miles (130 kilometers) southwest of Monterey, California. The remotely operated vehicle Doc Ricketts was about 10,751 feet (3,277 meters) down, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) says it is the first confirmed live observation of this squid in the northeastern Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A jelly that turned into a squid<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Pereira, a postdoctoral fellow at MBARI, told the story in the institute’s announcement of the sighting<\/a>. “Every dive into the deep brings an opportunity to see something new. You never know what you’ll encounter,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I was sitting right next to the screens in the control room when I saw what looked like tentacles coming into the top corner of the video. I thought it might be a cool jelly, but as soon as the little ‘elbows’ appeared, I knew exactly who this was and immediately screamed ‘Magnapinna!’ before the rest of the squid even came into the screen. It was incredibly exciting!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Researchers
Researchers in the control room of the R\/V David Packard watch the bigfin squid on the ROV video screens, one of them filming it with a phone. (Photo: Steve Litvin \/ \u00a9 2026 MBARI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Magnapinna is the genus name of the bigfin squids, a small group of related species. Using the laser measuring system on Doc Ricketts, the team put this one at about 4.1 feet (1.25 meters) from the top of the body to the ends of the arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A scientist watching the seafloor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Andrew DeVogelaere, a research ecologist with NOAA’s Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, was aboard as a collaborator. The team was there to find out whether mysterious furrows on the muddy seafloor were made by beaked whales feeding in the productive waters around the seamount, according to MBARI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I was focused on the seafloor and all of a sudden an elegant creature with undulating, angel-like ‘wings’ swam into view,” he recalled in the MBARI statement, calling it “the first confirmed bigfin squid sighting in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and a powerful reminder of what we still have to discover in the ocean’s depths. We live next door to a magical place.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arms that bend like elbows<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the footage, the squid hovers above the seafloor, undulating two large fins and trailing eight arms and two tentacles, according to MBARI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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