The ocean is as vast as it is mysterious, with scientists learning something new every day. Sometimes that something new isn’t what they intended to find, however. In this case, scientists investigating a deep-sea shipwreck soon discovered a massive creature right in front of them.
Daily Mail UK reports OceanX, a team comprised of marine biologists, as well as media and filmmakers, set off last year to the Red Sea. Searching for the “Pella,” a ship that sank in 2011 and rested 2,800 feet under the water’s surface, the team also found what they suspected was “The Giant Squid.”
OceanX science program lead Mattie Rodrigue recalled the experience in a video the team recorded. “I will never forget what happened next for as long as I live. All of a sudden, as we’re looking at the bow of the shipwreck, this massive creature comes into view, takes a look at the ROV [remotely operated vehicle] and curls its entire body around the bow of the wreck.”
It wasn’t until last month the team learned the mysterious sea-dweller was in fact “the giant form” of the purpleback flying squid. The squid typically only grows to be two feet long, but the giant form is naturally larger.
Seeking help from a zoologist, Rodrigue asked Dr. Michael Vecchione about the creature using their footage. He concluded it was indeed the giant form of the purpleback flying squid. “In the area that you’re operating, in the Red Sea, there’s a well-known population of those,'” Vecchione informed Rodrigue during a video call. “They get really big. I think what you’re seeing is what’s the giant form of Sthenoteuthis. “
However, though it is a giant variation of the squid, it is not a “giant” squid. Giant squids can become up to 66 feet long, which this one was nowhere near.
Squid Leads Snorkeler to Find Man’s Lost Wedding Ring
While the purpleback squid above was playing “Peekaboo” with scientists, another was doing a good deed. Last month a snorkeler found a lost wedding ring underwater after following a squid around.
Raquel Tobian found the ring while snorkeling in the Cayman Islands. Tailing a squid through the water, a gleam in the sand soon caught her eye. As it turns out, it was a lost wedding ring. Three weeks earlier, James Ross and his wife also went diving there and he lost it while underwater. “I lost it at some point during the dive, and although we searched for it high and low afterwards, we had no luck in finding it,” Ross told the Cayman Compass.
Tobian recently moved to the area and decided to take to Facebook with ring pictures to find the proper owner. In a mere two hours, online sleuths made the connection and found the proper owner. After connecting with Tobian and sending pictures of the ring, they met up and Ross received what was rightfully his.
