Rerouted by a newly calved block of ice at the edge of Antarctica, a US-led expedition has filmed two extraordinarily elusive deep-sea squids, revealing a hidden ecosystem that had been sealed beneath ice for centuries.
A wandering iceberg opens a hidden frontier
At the start of 2025, an immense iceberg known as A-84 broke away from the Antarctic ice sheet and drifted into the Southern Ocean. Such calving events are a regular part of Antarctica’s natural cycle, but they can still trigger dramatic, unexpected changes for wildlife and for research vessels operating nearby.
One of those ships, the research vessel Falkor operated by the US-based Schmidt Ocean Institute, was forced to change course in January as A-84 moved through the region. The detour took the crew over a stretch of seafloor that had, until recently, been locked away under thick ice.
This newly exposed area offered scientists a rare window into a deep, cold ecosystem that has evolved with very little disturbance from surface conditions.
By shifting their route around iceberg A-84, researchers unintentionally sailed straight into one of the most surprising deep-sea encounters of the decade.
A glass squid finally seen alive in its Antarctic home
During a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dive to nearly 700 metres, the team recorded the first confirmed footage of Galiteuthis glacialis, a type of glass squid that has almost never been seen in the wild.
This species was formally identified back in 1906 from preserved specimens hauled up in nets. Since then, it has remained almost entirely mysterious. No one had filmed a living individual in its natural Antarctic habitat.
What makes glass squids so unusual
Glass squids get their name from their nearly transparent bodies. This translucence acts like camouflage in the deep ocean, where any solid silhouette can give away an animal’s position to predators and prey.
- Most of the body is see-through, reducing shadows in dim light.
- Organs are compact and arranged to minimise contrast.
- Some species have light-producing organs to match weak background light.
Galiteuthis glacialis is thought to live exclusively in Antarctic waters, making it an endemic species of the Southern Ocean. The ROV footage shows a small, delicate squid hovering in cold, dark water, its thin mantle and fins barely visible against the background.
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The confirmed sighting of Galiteuthis glacialis turns a century-old name on a specimen jar into a living, swimming animal at nearly 700 metres depth.
A second rare squid appears: a juvenile colossal squid
The surprise did not end with one rare squid. During another Schmidt Ocean Institute expedition on 9 March, the same research programme recorded what is believed to be a juvenile colossal squid, also belonging to a glassy, deep-sea lineage.
The colossal squid, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, has long held near-mythical status. Only a handful of adults have ever been recovered, usually dead or dying, tangled in fishing gear or found in the stomachs of sperm whales.
A predator armed with hooks
Even as a juvenile, the colossal squid shows the features that make adults such formidable hunters. Like many deep-sea squids, it carries sharp hooks on its tentacles and arms. These hooks act almost like grappling devices, helping it snatch and hold struggling prey in the dark.
The Schmidt Ocean Institute reports that the colossal squid can reach around 7 metres in length, placing it among the very largest invertebrates on Earth. In contrast, Galiteuthis glacialis is far smaller and more lightly built, even though both appear glassy and ghost-like on camera.
Two different rare squids, filmed on back-to-back expeditions, show just how little of the Southern Ocean’s deep life has actually been seen by human eyes.
Why Antarctic calving events matter for ocean science
When an iceberg calves, it does more than reshape maps. It exposes new areas of seafloor, shifts currents and light levels, and changes how nutrients circulate in the water column. All of that can temporarily alter which species thrive in the region.
For researchers, this moving ice becomes both a hazard and an opportunity. Ships must carefully track iceberg paths to avoid collisions, yet these same routes can pass over areas that were previously unreachable or uninteresting on charts.
| Effect of iceberg calving | Impact on research |
|---|---|
| New seafloor exposed | Fresh chance to survey untouched habitats |
| Changed currents and water mixing | Unexpected encounters with drifting species |
| Ice hazards for navigation | Forced route changes leading to new study sites |
The encounter with these two squid species near iceberg A-84 is a clear example of how shifting Antarctic ice can redirect research and reveal phenomena that were previously only theoretical or based on preserved samples.
What this tells us about deep-sea life
The Southern Ocean is one of the least-studied marine regions on the planet. Its remoteness, harsh weather, and thick ice cover make long-term observation extremely difficult. Most species names on scientific lists are still attached to preserved animals collected with nets, not to living creatures filmed in their habitats.
Seeing Galiteuthis glacialis and a juvenile colossal squid alive provides new clues about how they move, hunt, and avoid predators. Details such as the angle of their fins, how they hold their arms, and how they react to the ROV lights can all feed into models of deep-sea behaviour.
The findings also highlight how much of the food web in the Antarctic deep depends on animals that rarely, if ever, approach the surface. Squids like these may be crucial prey for large predators such as sperm whales and deep-diving seals.
Key terms behind the headlines
What scientists mean by “glass squid”
“Glass squid” is a catch-all name used for several related species within the family Cranchiidae. They share a number of traits:
- Most have transparent skin and internal tissues.
- Many possess large eyes adapted to faint light.
- They often inhabit midwater depths, between roughly 200 and 1000 metres.
Their transparency is not just a curiosity. In the dim, filtered light of these depths, a clear body helps them stay unnoticed by both predators above and prey below.
How deep 700 metres really is
A depth of 700 metres sits in what oceanographers call the mesopelagic, or “twilight”, zone. Sunlight still reaches this layer but is too weak for photosynthesis.
At that depth near Antarctica, water temperatures are close to freezing, and pressure is roughly 70 times higher than at the surface. Any animal living there needs specialised adaptations for slow metabolism, efficient movement and high-pressure survival.
Future missions and what they might reveal
The Schmidt Ocean Institute and other research groups are planning further expeditions around newly calved Antarctic ice over the coming years. As satellite tracking of icebergs improves, scientists can time voyages to pass near areas that have only recently emerged from under the ice cover.
Each such mission carries both risks and rewards. Ice can block escape routes if the weather changes quickly, and ROVs face hazards from drifting chunks and unpredictable currents. Yet these same conditions create chances to record species that have never been filmed before.
For anyone following climate and ocean news, these sightings also raise new questions. If two rare squids appear on consecutive cruises, what else is living in the dim waters around Antarctica that still has no video, no common name, and barely even a line in scientific catalogues?
As ice continues to shift and long-range research vessels push deeper into these remote regions, more of these hidden inhabitants are likely to come into view, transforming long-standing guesses about life in the Antarctic deep into direct observation.
Originally posted 2026-03-10 03:34:56.