Live Colossal Squid Caught on Camerafor the First Time Ever [Video]

An international team of scientists have captured the first-ever footage of the colossal squid—the world’s largest invertebrate—live in its natural environment.

The footage was captured on March 9 in the South Sandwich Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean by scientists and crew aboard the research vessel Falkor from California’s Schmidt Ocean Institute, the organization said in a statement.

The video of the nearly one-foot-long baby colossal squid (whose scientific name is Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) was recorded at a depth of about 1,968 feet by the institute’s remotely operated submersible vehicle SuBastian. The clip shows the colossal squid gliding across a backdrop of deep dark waters.

The first-ever footage was recorded in a year that marks the 100^th anniversary of the identification and formal naming of the colossal squid, which is a member of the glass squid family (Cranchiidae).