By Tim Binnall
Scientists studying marine animals in the Pacific Ocean were spellbound when they caught sight of an odd-looking creature known as a piglet squid. The amazing encounter reportedly occurred earlier this month as the E/V Nautilus research vessel was investigating the water around the Palmyra Atoll, which is a fairly remote location around 1,000 miles south of Hawaii.
As their remote-controlled underwater vehicle was exploring at around 4,500 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, researchers watching the scene noticed the weird denizen of the deep. "What are you," wonders one of the amazed scientists, observing that the creature looks like "a bloated squid with tiny tentacles and a little hat that's waving around." Meanwhile, another scientist aboard the vessel marveled that "I've never seen anything that looks like this."
Upon closer inspection, the team was able to determine that the strange ocean dweller was a creature known colloquially as a piglet squid. In a caption accompanying their breathtaking video, E/V Nautilus explained that the animal gets its name from "its large siphon that looks like a snout" and that the wondrous cephalopod is able to "regulate buoyancy with an ammonia-filled internal chamber."