Colossal Squid Captured On Video For The First Time After Discovery: WATCH
An extraordinary deep-sea encounter recently marked a century of mystery with the first-ever video of a living colossal squid in its natural habitat. Watch the video here.
For the first time in history, scientists have captured rare footage of a living colossal squid — one of the ocean's most elusive giants — swimming deep in the South Atlantic Ocean. The juvenile squid, measuring about 30 centimetres (nearly one foot) long, was filmed on March 9 by Schmidt Ocean Institute's remotely operated vehicle, SuBastian, at a depth of 600 metres (1,968 feet) near the remote South Sandwich Islands.
This groundbreaking moment occurred during a 35-day expedition led by Schmidt Ocean Institute aboard their research vessel Falkor (too). The mission was part of the Ocean Census initiative, a global collaboration aimed at uncovering new marine species and expanding knowledge of ocean biodiversity.
The colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni), formally identified exactly 100 years ago, is known to be the heaviest invertebrate on the planet. The adults of the species can reach lengths of up to seven metres (23 feet) and weigh as much as 500 kilograms.
The colossal squid—one of nature’s most elusive animals, and the world’s most massive squid species—was first identified 100 years ago using remains found in the stomach of a sperm whale. Now, one has been filmed alive in its natural oceanic environment for the first time. pic.twitter.com/yeqLs6b0Xq
— National Geographic (@NatGeo) April 15, 2025
Until now, the species had only been encountered through remains found in predator stomachs or as dying specimens caught by fishermen. Never before had it been observed alive and undisturbed in its deep-sea home.
"It's exciting to see the first in situ footage of a juvenile colossal and humbling to think that they have no idea that humans exist," said Kat Bolstad of Auckland University of Technology, who helped confirm the sighting.
The moment is particularly fitting, as 2025 marks the centennial of the squid's scientific discovery.
Just weeks earlier, on January 25, another major milestone was achieved. During a prior expedition in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica, the team captured the first confirmed video of a glacial glass squid (Galiteuthis glacialis) — another species never seen alive in the wild.
That footage, taken in the Bellingshausen Sea at a depth of 687 metres (2,254 feet), showed the transparent creature holding its arms in a distinct "cockatoo" posture, a behaviour observed in other glass squids.
"The first sighting of two different squids on back-to-back expeditions is remarkable and shows how little we have seen of the magnificent inhabitants of the Southern Ocean," said Jyotika Virmani, executive director of Schmidt Ocean Institute.
The expeditions were no small undertaking. The colossal squid encounter was part of a flagship mission under the Ocean Census program, supported by Schmidt Ocean Institute, The Nippon Foundation–Nekton Ocean Census, and GoSouth, a joint effort involving the University of Plymouth (UK), GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research (Germany), and the British Antarctic Survey.
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