MARCH 5, 2016
by Chuck Bednar
Last month, during its first operational
dive of 2016, the NOAA's Okeanos
Explorer discovered a new octopus species that has been described as
everything from an adorable
cartoon character to a ghostly,
Pokémon-like cephalopod, agency officials announced earlier
this week.
Fhe Okeanos Explorer craft was
exploring the waters off northeastern of Necker Island (Mokumanamana) in the
Hawaiian Archipelago on February 27 as part of a deep dive to help determine
whether or not there was a connection between the island and Necker Ridge, a
narrow feature which extends more than 400 miles and protrudes beyond the
current US exclusive economic zone.
In addition, its remotely operated
vehicle (ROV) Deep Discoverer had been surveying biological
communities at depths of nearly 4,300 meters, when it located the mysterious
octopod resting on a flat rock lightly covered in sediment, the NOAA said. Its
appearance was unlike any previously known cephalopod, and its discovery was
the deepest that such a creature had ever been seen.
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