Schmidt Ocean Institute
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Schmidt Ocean Institute is a 501 non-profit operating foundation established in March 2009 by Eric Schmidt and Wendy Schmidt. The Institute's goal is to advance innovative oceanographic research and d
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R/V Falkor
Colossal squid
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The colossal squid is a species of very large squid belonging to the family Cranchiidae, that of the cockatoo squids, or glass squids. It is sometimes called the Antarctic cranch squid or giant squid
Schmidt Ocean Institute
…plans to study the newly exposed seafloor. Rearchers of the Schmidt Ocean Institute using ROV SuBastian filmed the first footage in history of an alive colossal squid in March 2025. It was a juvenile colossal squid with a size of about 30 cm (12 in), filmed at a depth of about 600 meters near the South Sandwich Islands…
Size comparison with a human
The beak of a colossal squid
This specimen, caught in February 2007, is the largest cephalopod ever recorded. Here it is shown alive during capture, with the delicate red skin still intact and the mantle characteristically inflated.
The specimen on display at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa