Expedition charts Cook Islands seafloor, amid scrutiny over mining motives

Thousands of meters beneath the ocean’s surface, a remotely operated vehicle recorded a ghostly white creature gliding over a field of polymetallic nodules — dark mineral-rich rocks shaped like small potatoes. Its orchid-like fins rippled gently as it swam, while long transparent tentacles trailed elegantly behind.

This mysterious animal was identified as a bigfin squid (genus Magnapinna), an extremely rare species that scientists have documented fewer than twenty times and never physically captured.

Adam Soule, a geologist and oceanographer who heads the U.S.-based Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute, which leads the expedition aboard the vessel E/V Nautilus, said the sighting of the bigfin squid sparked great enthusiasm among researchers.

“One of the cool things about the Nautilus is that there’s a lot of people following online, watching in real time and sending in comments,” said Soule to Mongabay.

The Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute and its partner, the Ocean Exploration Trust, operate under a decade-long $200 million grant from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Author’s Summary

A deep-sea expedition near the Cook Islands recorded a rare bigfin squid, thrilling scientists and online viewers following the NOAA-supported E/V Nautilus mission.