A surprising discovery was captured on film almost 2.4 miles deep using a remotely operated underwater vehicle, with researchers exploring a canyon when they spotted it
(Image: Jam Press/@schmidtocean)
A peculiar octopus resembling Disney’s Dumbo has been captured on camera two miles below the ocean surface by thrilled marine biologists. The elusive sea creature was recorded nearly 2.4 miles down using a remotely operated submersible.
Scientists were investigating a canyon when the pink sea creature suddenly began flapping its ear-shaped fins. It bears an uncanny likeness to the beloved 1941 Disney character Dumbo. The extraordinary footage was obtained during an expedition to examine the Mar del Plata submarine canyon.
This enormous canyon sits in the South Atlantic Ocean, roughly 193 miles east of the Argentine city sharing its name. Marine biologists reckon it’s the first-ever recorded sighting of a Dumbo octopus in Argentine waters, according to What’s The Jam.
The expedition is being spearheaded by the US-based Schmidt Ocean Institute, collaborating with Argentina’s National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) and National Institute for Fisheries Research and Development.
The pink creature, spotted last Tuesday (5 August), belongs to a genus fittingly called the Dumbo octopus (Grimpoteuthis). Seventeen recognised species comprise the genus, each boasting distinctive fins protruding from the mantle above their eyes.
They represent the deepest-living octopuses on record, flourishing in an extreme environment of immense pressure and freezing temperatures. Unlike most octopuses, which depend on jet propulsion, the Dumbo octopus possesses a jelly-like body and travels by beating its fins.
Just days before, on 26 July, the same expedition recorded a “cheeky” starfish featuring a bottom-like crease between its arms. Social media users were quick to point out its striking resemblance to Patrick Star from the popular cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants.
Kristen Kusek of the Schmidt Ocean Institute said: “The ‘bum’ is normal, and not a bum at all, but it’s fun to see folks enjoying it.
“It has to do with seawater circulating in its body – a totally normal process.”
(Image: Jam Press/@schmidtocean)
Dumbo octopuses have a line of around 65 to 68 suckers on each arm, as well as protrusions known as cirri, which are akin to hair. This means they fall into the cirrate octopus group.
They generally grow to about 20 to 30 centimetres, but the largest example of the adorable cephalopod was a whopping 1.8 metres long and weighed 5.9kg.
They are known to live in the deep oceans at depths of 1,000 to 7,000 metres, which includes both the bathyal and abyssal zones, where there is no sunlight and the water is icy cold.
In 2020, a Dumbo octopus was filmed at a depth of nearly 7,000 metres in the Java Trench in the Indian Ocean. It suggests that the creatures may also live in the deepest depths of the ocean, known as the hadal zone.
(Image: Jam Press/@schmidtocean)
In comments recorded on the Natural History Museum’s official website, Jon Ablett, the senior curator in charge of mollusca at the London museum, said Dumbos look “very different” from other types of octopuses.
He noted that they are “very blobby and gelatinous,” meaning they have an “otherworldly, alien-like look,” particularly when they are brought to the water’s surface.
