Halmos Faculty Witness History with Video of Giant Squid

From June 8 – 22, a team of researchers explored the water column in some of the deepest parts of the Gulf of Mexico in order to determine what happens to deep-sea animals when a very important constraint is taken away from them – that of light. As part of this amazing project, researcher Edie Widder, Ph.D., with her colleague, Nathan Robinson, Ph.D., used her MEDUSA camera platform to capture video of a live giant squid deep in the Gulf of Mexico during a recent NOAA Office of Exploration and Research-supported cruise.

This is the first recording of a live giant squid in the Gulf of Mexico (Atlantic Ocean, for that matter), and only the second such filming ever. The research cruise, entitled “Journey into Midnight: Life and Light Below the Twilight Zone,” was led by Sönke Johnsen, Ph. D., of Duke University. Regarding DEEPEND, three of the twelve scientists onboard were from Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography. They were Co-PI Tammy Frank, Ph.D., her student Ruchao Qian, and DEEPEND Director/PI Tracey Sutton, Ph.D.

The giant squid story has been a global media sensation, featured by the NOAA Office of Exploration and Research; Discovery Channel; NY Times; Washington Post; USA Today; OCEANX; and CNN, among hundreds of others.