A century after its discovery, scientists capture first confirmed footage of a colossal squid in the deep

The colossal squid was first described in 1925 based on specimens from the stomach of a commercially hunted sperm whale. A century later, an international voyage captured the first confirmed video of this species in its natural habitat – a 30-centimetre juvenile, at a depth of 600 metres near the South Sandwich Islands.

Colossal squid can grow up to seven metres and weigh as much as 500 kilograms, making them the heaviest invertebrate on the planet. But little is known about their life cycle.

The first sighting of a juvenile colossal squid in its natural environment. Credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute.