A rare “ghost” jellyfish caught on camera in the deep sea. Researchers just caught some incredible footage of a giant phantom jellyfish, which is basically one of the hardest creatures to find in the ocean. It was spotted gliding through the dark water off the coast of Argentina.
The video came from a scientific dive and it is getting a lot of attention because, honestly, almost nobody has ever seen one of these alive. It just showed up out of the dark, moving slowly and looking exactly like a ghost.
A Lucky Find
This happened while a team from the Schmidt Ocean Institute was exploring the Colorado-Rawson submarine canyon. They were using remote-controlled cameras to check out the canyon walls when they ran into them.
During the dive, they noticed a huge, transparent shape drifting past their cameras.The team realized they were watching a giant phantom jellyfish, a species rarely recorded on video.
Captured By Advanced Deep-Sea Technology
The footage was taken at a depth of about 830 feet, far below where sunlight can reach. The institute’s ROV, named Sebastian , followed the jellyfish as it pulsed gently through the water.
Its main body measured around 3.3 feet wide, while its long arms stretched more than 33 feet. The slow and smooth movement allowed scientists to observe details that are normally impossible to study.
It is so rare, scientists are still pretty much guessing when it comes to how they live, eat, or have babies. It actually took nearly 60 years after that first discovery just to get the species officially classified.
Life In The Ocean’s Twilight Zone
The giant phantom jellyfish can live from near the surface down to 21,900 feet deep, but it is most often found in the ocean’s twilight zone. This is the area where light is very weak, and conditions are extreme. Sightings have been reported in almost every ocean except the Arctic, with many records coming from the Southern Ocean near Antarctica.
More Mysteries Beneath The Surface
Researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute previously observed a fish swimming close to a giant phantom jellyfish. The fish appeared to use the jellyfish’s long arms for protection in the deep “Midnight Zone.” Moments like these remind scientists how much of the deep sea remains unseen and unexplored.
A quick look at a world we barely know. This footage from Argentina gives us a short but really cool glimpse into what’s going on down there. In the pitch-black parts of the deep ocean, the giant phantom jellyfish is still just drifting around. It really shows you how much we still do not understand about life under the water.
Watch the video here:
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