JUNE 24,
2019
FIU
marine scientists Heather Bracken-Grissom and Lori Schweikert were among a team
of researchers gathered around a monitor when the tentacle first came into
view. It floated in and out of the darkness offering no hint of what was on the
other end. Then, in an elegant explosion of arms and tentacles, the creature
revealed itself—the phantom of the deep, known simply as the giant squid.
It is the
first time the elusive creature has been caught on camera in U.S. waters—about
100 miles southwest of New Orleans in the Gulf of Mexico. It is only the second
time the creature, which can grow up to 40 feet, has ever been captured on
camera. The discovery was made toward the end of a 17-day research mission
dubbed Journey into Midnight which began June 7.
"It
was magical and surreal to see how the animal behaves in nature,"
Bracken-Grissom said. "To know that I was witnessing something that had only
been seen once before in nature filled me with an overwhelming sense of
gratitude and respect for what still is to be discovered."
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