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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteA juvenile colossal squid, nearly transparent and only about 30 centimeters long, has been filmed alive in the deep ocean for the first confirmed time. The encounter took place near the South Sandwich Islands on March 9, 2025, and specialists identified the animal by the distinctive hooks on its arms and tentacles.
A remotely operated vehicle has captured the first confirmed video of a colossal squid alive in its natural habitat—and the animal looks almost nothing like the dark, enormous squid shown in popular imagination.
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The squid was a juvenile, approximately 30 centimeters long, filmed on March 9, 2025, at a depth of about 600 meters near the South Sandwich Islands in the South Atlantic. Its nearly transparent body identified it as a young glass squid, while distinctive hooks on its arms and tentacles helped specialists confirm the species as Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, the colossal squid.
What the video shows
The encounter occurred during a 35-day Ocean Census flagship expedition aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor (too). The institute’s remotely operated vehicle, SuBastian, was exploring the water column near the remote South Sandwich Islands when its cameras recorded the squid swimming at approximately 600 meters—about 1,968 feet—below the surface.
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The expedition team announced the discovery on April 15, 2025, after consulting independent specialists to verify the identification. That review is important. The footage was not simply an unconfirmed recording of an unusual transparent squid; it was described as the first confirmed observation of a colossal squid alive in its natural environment.
The video captures a small animal moving freely in the deep ocean rather than a carcass, partial specimen, or squid recovered from a predator. For a species that has been studied mainly through dead material, that difference is scientifically significant.
Why was the colossal squid transparent?
The filmed animal was a juvenile, and juvenile colossal squid can be nearly transparent. The species belongs to Cranchiidae, the family commonly known as glass squids. A young colossal squid may therefore look delicate and ghostlike, even though adults are known for their dark coloration and imposing size.
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That contrast makes the footage especially striking. The animal resembles a fragile, floating sliver of glass, yet it belongs to one of the largest and heaviest invertebrate species known to science.
How scientists identified the species
A transparent juvenile glass squid can resemble other members of the same family, so appearance alone was not enough. The key evidence was found in the animal’s arm and tentacle structures.
Colossal squid have distinctive hooks, including hooked structures on their arms and tentacular clubs. Those hooks help distinguish Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni from similar cranchiid squids. Specialists examined the video and used these features, together with the animal’s overall form, to confirm the identification.
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A century-known animal seen alive for the first time
Scientists have known about colossal squid for roughly a century, but direct knowledge of their lives has been remarkably limited. The species was initially described from arm crowns recovered from the stomach of a sperm whale. Later records came largely from carcasses, incomplete remains, fishing bycatch, and specimens found inside predators.
Only a small number of specimens larger than the juvenile stage have been reported. As a result, much of the animal’s biology has been reconstructed from pieces rather than observed in the deep ocean. Researchers have had limited opportunities to see how a living colossal squid swims, positions its arms, responds to currents, or interacts with its surroundings.
This is why the 2025 recording matters beyond its visual appeal. It provides direct evidence of a living juvenile in the environment where it naturally occurs. It may allow researchers to study movement, body posture, transparency, and behavior that cannot be recovered from a dead specimen.
How large do colossal squid become?
The recorded juvenile was only about 30 centimeters long, but its small size says little about the potential size of a mature animal. Colossal squid are among the heaviest known invertebrates.
Schmidt Ocean Institute describes them as potentially reaching about 7 meters, or 23 feet. A Food and Agriculture Organization reference records a maximum weight of 495 kilograms and discusses total lengths approaching roughly 9 to 10 meters under its measurement framework. These figures should not be treated as interchangeable measurements.
Squid length can be reported in different ways, including mantle length, total body length, or the distance measured with tentacles extended. In addition, the largest historical specimens have often been incomplete or difficult to measure. The careful summary is that colossal squid include some of the heaviest known invertebrates, with a recorded specimen weighing 495 kilograms, while estimates of maximum length vary according to the specimen and the measurement method.
There is no contradiction between a 30-centimeter juvenile and a species capable of reaching several meters. The video shows an early life stage, not a miniature adult at its final size.
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What the footage does—and does not—tell scientists
The observation answers one important question: a juvenile colossal squid can be encountered alive at approximately 600 meters near the South Sandwich Islands. It also gives scientists a direct look at the animal’s appearance and movement in the water column.
It does not, by itself, reveal the species’ entire life cycle. The footage does not establish:
- where all juvenile colossal squid live;
- the full depth range of the species;
- how adults behave in the wild;
- the animal’s population size or trend;
- its complete diet or hunting strategy;
- how it reproduces; or
- how quickly it grows from a transparent juvenile into a large adult.
Those gaps remain because the Southern Ocean and Antarctic deep water are difficult places to study. The animals are rare, the habitat is remote, and traditional sampling can damage or kill the very creatures researchers are trying to understand.
Repeated observations could eventually show whether the squid’s movements, posture, and coloration change with age, depth, light, or nearby animals. Better low-light cameras, quieter underwater vehicles, and improved optical systems may help researchers observe more individuals with less disturbance. Those are promising research directions, not findings already proved by this single encounter.
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The expedition behind the discovery
The squid was found during a wider expedition involving Schmidt Ocean Institute, the Nippon Foundation–Nekton Ocean Census, and the GoSouth collaboration. The expedition explored the South Sandwich Islands region from February 20 through March 26, 2025.
The expedition’s discoveries extended well beyond the squid. Researchers documented polar ecosystems, coral gardens, hydrothermal vents, evidence of volcanic activity, and numerous suspected new species. The broader context matters because the colossal squid was found through systematic exploration of a poorly observed environment—not through a staged aquarium display or a chance encounter near the surface.
An earlier expedition aboard Falkor (too) also produced the first confirmed footage of a glacial glass squid, Galiteuthis glacialis, alive in its natural environment. The two discoveries underline how much Southern Ocean midwater and deep-sea life remains unseen, even in regions that have been studied for decades from ships and satellites.
Colossal squid and giant squid are not the same animal
The squid in this footage was a colossal squid, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni. It was not a giant squid, Architeuthis dux.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsThe names are often mixed together because both animals are large deep-ocean squids, but they are different species with different scientific histories and physical characteristics. The 2025 footage is important specifically because it shows a colossal squid alive in the wild.
Readers looking for a general introduction to giant squid may find useful adjacent material, but a giant-squid book should not be described as a species-specific guide to the animal in this video.
Further reading for young ocean explorers
For younger readers who want to learn more, Whiti: Colossal Squid of the Deep offers an illustrated introduction to the species. It is best treated as an educational follow-up to the discovery, not as a replacement for the expedition footage or a complete scientific account of colossal squid.
More broadly, deep-ocean documentaries and ROV exploration videos can help explain how researchers study animals that are rarely seen alive. Any specific streaming title or current availability should be checked before publication, since catalogs and regional access change.
Frequently Asked Questions
How deep was the colossal squid filmed?
The squid was filmed at approximately 600 meters, or about 1,968 feet, below the surface.
How big was the squid in the video?
The animal was approximately 30 centimeters long. It was a juvenile, not an adult.
Is a colossal squid the same as a giant squid?
No. The colossal squid is Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, while the giant squid is Architeuthis dux. They are different species.
Why did the colossal squid look transparent?
Its nearly transparent appearance was consistent with its juvenile stage and its membership in the glass-squid family, Cranchiidae. Adults become darker and more opaque.
The Bottom Line
The video is the first confirmed live look at a colossal squid in its natural habitat, but it shows a small, transparent juvenile—not the legendary adult giant. Its hooked arms helped identify it as Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, and the encounter gives scientists valuable direct evidence while leaving the species’ life history largely unknown.
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