By Tim Binnall
Scientists studying marine life off the coast of Australia were surprised to spot a massive string-like sea creature known as a siphonophore. The remarkable encounter was made by the Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor as it explored the Indian Ocean's Ningaloo Canyons. The organization posted footage of the marvelous find (which can be seen below) on their Twitter account, marveling that this particular siphonophore may be "the largest ever recorded" and observed that it seemed to be in a "strange UFO-like feeding posture."
Based on their laser measurements, they estimated that just the outer ring of the creature was a whopping 154 feet long. The Schmidt Ocean Institute went on to explain that "the whole thing looks like one animal, but it's many thousands of individuals which form an entity on a higher level." Those smaller parts of the greater whole are, in fact, clones of tiny creatures which, when created, are tasked with certain specific functions vital to keeping the entire 'string' functioning as one.