The colossal squid, the largest mollusk on Earth, has been captured alive for the first time. The colossal squid was first discovered in 1925 when it was found shredded in the stomach of a sperm whale caught in Antarctica. Since then, dead squids have occasionally been found, but no living specimen has been confirmed for over 100 years.
The Schmidt Ocean Institute noted on the 15th (local time) that the research vessel Falkor has captured footage of a 30 cm long colossal squid at a depth of 600 meters in the Southern Ocean. The colossal squid is estimated to grow up to 7 meters, and the squid captured this time is a juvenile.
The Falkor expedition team discovered the colossal squid while exploring the South Sandwich Islands in the Southern Ocean on the 9th of last month. It is estimated that a mature colossal squid can weigh up to 500 kg. The Schmidt Ocean Institute stated that this is the first footage of the colossal squid, the largest invertebrate on Earth, captured in the wild.
The colossal squid was first identified in academic circles 100 years ago under the scientific name Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni. The name is derived from the Antarctic squid genus Mesonychoteuthis, which was discovered by British explorer Hamilton during his exploration of the Southern Ocean.
The colossal squid has long been known as the model for the mythical creature Kraken. In Norse mythology, the Kraken is described as being so large it could sink ships. However, its actual appearance had never been witnessed. While colossal squid carcasses have been found on beaches or caught alive in nets in Antarctica, no living specimen had been seen in the ocean.
The Falkor expedition team captured footage of a juvenile colossal squid using the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) SuBastian last month in the Southern Ocean. The expedition team sent the footage to experts for confirmation that it was a colossal squid. The colossal squid features distinctive hooks on the suckers of its eight arms.
In 2023, the colossal squid was also spotted at sea by researchers from the American nonprofit Kolossal, but the quality of the video was too low to confirm whether it was a colossal squid. The recent footage was taken in the same depth in a location similar to where the Kolossal team filmed, confirming that the creature captured at that time was indeed a colossal squid.
Nevertheless, Dr. Steve O’Shea from Auckland University of Technology, who coined the name "colossal squid" in the early 2000s, said, "There is still no footage of a mature colossal squid, so the life of this enormous invertebrate remains a mystery."
References
Schmidt Ocean Institute (2025), https://schmidtocean.org/first-colossal-squid-footage