When an iceberg the size of Chicago broke away the Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet earlier this year, scientists onboard the Falkor (too) research vessel felt compelled to see what had been living beneath it.
The Schmidt Ocean Institute researchers were the first humans to explore this hidden world – and with the aid of their remotely operated vehicle (ROV) SuBastian, they made some remarkable discoveries.
Corals and sponges, phantom jellies, icefish, enormous sea spiders and octopuses were all found in the deep waters. The team also recorded the first-ever footage of a glacial glass squid (Galiteuthis glacialis).
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Glacial glass squid: how it was found
Deep-sea expert Dr. Thom Linley from the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa was watching the ROV footage from the vessel’s mission control room when he spotted the squid.
The sighting was then confirmed as a glacial glass squid by Dr. Aaron Evans, an expert on the glass squid family.
In the video, which was recorded at 687 metres (2254 feet), the squid can be seen positioning its arms above its head, much like the 'cockatoo pose' commonly observed in other glass squids.
Juvenile glacial glass squids are similar to juvenile colossal squids, explains Dr Evans. They both have transparent bodies and sharp hooks at the end of their two longer tentacles. The main difference is that the colossal squid possesses hooks on the middle of their eight arms.
The ROV SuBastian has captured the first confirmed footage of at least five squid species in the wild, including the ram’s horn squid (Spirula spirula) in 2020, the Promachoteuthis in 2024, and the colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) in 2025.
Image and video credit: Galiteuthis Glacialis. Credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute
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