The blood-red squid in the video is an Antarctic gonate squid, Gonatus antarcticus. A remotely operated vehicle filmed it near the Powell Basin in the Southern Ocean on December 25, 2024, at about 7,000 feet (2,152 meters). The species was already known to science; what makes the encounter remarkable is that it appears to be the first footage of one alive in the wild.
What squid appears in the video?
Cephalopod specialist Kat Bolstad identified the animal as Gonatus antarcticus, the Antarctic gonate squid. She recognized it by a distinctive feature: one large hook at the end of each of its two long tentacles. The hooks are not consistently visible in the footage, but Bolstad said they were present. National Geographic reported her identification on June 10, 2025.
The species is not newly discovered. Before this encounter, it was known from carcasses recovered in fishing nets and from beaks found in the stomachs of fished marine animals. The new footage is significant because it captures a living animal in its natural environment.
Where and how deep was it filmed?
ROV SuBastian recorded the squid on December 25, 2024, near the Powell Basin in the Southern Ocean. It was deployed from the research vessel R/V Falkor (too) during an expedition led by the National Geographic Society as part of Rolex Perpetual Planet Ocean Expeditions. Live Science reported the depth as 7,060 feet (2,152 meters); National Geographic rounded it to roughly 7,000 feet.
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The team had changed its deployment plan because sea ice was moving too quickly, and moved to another site near the basin’s outer edge. The squid was encountered during the descent, not during a targeted search for this species.
Is this really the first-ever sighting?
The careful claim is that this is, to Bolstad’s knowledge, the first live footage of Gonatus antarcticus worldwide. “This is, to the best of my knowledge, the first live footage of this animal worldwide,” she told National Geographic. That qualification matters: the footage is a world-first claim from the specialist who identified the animal, not proof that no person had ever encountered a living individual.
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It is also different from saying the squid was previously unknown. The species had been known for more than a century, but prior records described in the reporting came from remains rather than footage of a living squid in the wild.
What does the footage show?
The squid, estimated at about three feet (0.9 meters) long, drifted close to SuBastian. The team followed it for roughly two or three minutes and used the ROV’s lasers to estimate its size. It released a small cloud of greenish ink, then shot away into the darkness. The brief clip does not establish why it released ink; being startled by the vehicle is one possibility, not a confirmed explanation.
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The footage also shows scratches on the squid’s arms and fresh-looking sucker marks on its mantle. Bolstad suggested it might have survived a recent predation attempt, but no attacker was identified. The available reporting says researchers could not determine its sex; Live Science also reports that its age could not be determined.
What are the squid’s large hooks for?
The hooks are a notable anatomical clue, but the video does not show the squid catching prey. Alex Hayward, a senior lecturer in ecology and conservation at the University of Exeter who was not on the expedition, said the hooks are “probably used for grasping and subduing prey during ambush predation.” That is an expert interpretation of their likely function, not behavior documented in this encounter. National Geographic quoted Hayward in its June 10, 2025, report.
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What this brief encounter cannot tell us
A single short observation documents one squid; it does not establish a typical depth or size for the species, population numbers, or how often these animals release ink. The footage also cannot confirm the cause of the squid’s marks, its age or sex, or whether it was hunting. Those limits do not diminish the observation: seeing a living Antarctic gonate squid in the wild provides a rare glimpse of an animal previously represented in the cited reporting by remains.
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