For the very first time, a live giant squid has been recorded in U.S. waters. The video was captured by a team of researchers on an expedition funded by the NOAA. The team was studying the impacts of light-deprivation on deep sea creatures who live in the Gulf of Mexico’s ‘midnight zone’, located 3,280 feet below the surface.
The 23-person crew had to use a specialized probe, lure the elusive squid to a camera, then find that moment among hours of video footage. The squid sighting happened 100 miles southeast of New Orleans.
But wait, there’s more! The video had to survive a sudden lightning strike to their metal research vessel, which threatened computers, on top of a water spout that suddenly formed off the port bow.
One of the leaders of the expedition, Edith Widder, described their experience as “one of the more amazing days at sea I’ve ever had.”
