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Kolossal hopes to film a giant squid in its natural habitat, the waters around Antarctica.
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The squid is large but elusive and difficult to study since it lives thousands of feet underwater.
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By using tourist boats in the Antarctic, searching for the squid was much more cost effective.
During four trips, tourists on an Antarctic cruise ship watched researchers lower a camera into the icy cold waters of the Southern Ocean. They had the same question every day: “Did you get it yet?”
The scientists were searching for the giant squid, an elusive cephalopod that can weigh 1,100 pounds. Although a handful of whole and partial specimens have been found by fishing boats, researchers have had difficulty finding one in the wild.
Matthew Mulrennan hopes to change that with Kolossal, the non-profit he founded to film giant squid in their natural habitat. The goal is to learn basic information about the sea animal, such as how it hunts and observes in different stages of life.
“I always like to say it’s a poster species because of how little we know about the ocean and how little we’ve explored it,” he told Business Insider.
In 2022 and 2023, Mulrennan assembled a team of scientists to try to get footage of the squid on board the Antarctic tourists. Although he estimates the efforts cost a total of $500,000, it was much cheaper than hiring a research vessel.
There are 200 passengers on the cruise ship, each paying up to $6,720. Although they expected lectures from geologists, marine biologists, and other experts, they did not necessarily know that there would be a full research station on board.
The team’s underwater camera filmed dozens of Antarctic species, including one squid that looks like a young giant.
The enigmatic giant squid
At around 46 feet with its tentacles spread out, the giant squid is still difficult to spot.
Adults live more than 3,000 feet deep in the waters around Antarctica, making them elusive to even the most technically skilled divers. They may be frightened by submerged vehicles.
Many of the known specimens were found in the stomachs of sperm whales, whose diets may have been 77 percent giant squid. Only 12 complete specimens have been found, according to a 2015 study.
“There’s so little known about it because it’s so mysterious,” says Myrah Graham, a master’s student at Memorial University’s Maritime Institute who accompanied Mulrennan on one of the trips.
They are also difficult to preserve for long-term study, so much of the basics about them are unknown, including how old they get, details of their reproduction, and population size, said Graham.
“The bottom line is we just need to film it, and we can learn a lot from brief interactions,” he said.
Combining science and tourism
Mulrennan first became interested in giant squid in 2007 when he was studying abroad at the University of Auckland. Researchers distinguished what he called a “monster specimen” caught by a fishing vessel.
Although Mulrennan was not involved in the distribution, he was eager to learn more about the marine animal. In 2015, he made it a goal to film the giant squid within 10 years.
Chartering research vessels can cost tens of thousands of dollars per day. Similar trips cost as much as $8 million, Mulrennan said.
Eventually, Mulrennan hit on the idea of going on Ocean Endeavor Intrepid Travel, a cruise ship that would already be traveling to Antarctica.
Once on board, curious cruise tourists would stop to look at brittle stars and other deep-sea life captured by an underwater camera. The passengers began referring to the researchers as the “squid heads,” Mulrennan said.
“You get this kind of privileged access right away on board, Graham said. “One of the biggest comments I got was, ‘Oh, I wish I had gone to school for marine biology.'”
In order to accommodate the itineraries of cruise passengers to see penguins and seals – what Mulrennan called “air-breathing cuties” – the researchers had to pull every night when the ship was in the deep ocean.
Sometimes the passengers would complain about the smelly toothfish bait that the scientists used to attract the squid. The researchers had to be flexible about lowering the camera underwater, especially when the waves put ice nearby.
On one occasion, the researchers had to take down their entire research station so that passengers could use the nearby door for a polar plunge.
“You get 150 half-naked guests walking out doing vodka shots in your research station,” Mulrennan said. “It’s like strange things that can’t happen on a normal vessel.”
The future of the giant squid search
During 58 days at sea, Kolossal’s camera captured more than 80 marine species, including giant volcano sponges, dragon fish, ice fish, Antarctic sun stars, and – perhaps – a giant squid.
“We’re not claiming this is the giant squid, but it’s not as good no a giant squid,” said Mulrennan of footage of a translucent squid filmed by the camera.
Based on the assessments of the experts who saw the footage, it is impossible to say whether the animal is a young giant squid or a fully grown glass squid.
Graham said she thinks it shows they are on the right track.
Mulrennan hopes to return to Antarctica next season, just in time for the self-imposed deadline of finding the giant squid by 2025.
“We’re approaching a hundred years of our interaction with the species,” Mulrennan said, “and we don’t know much about it.”
Read the original article on Business Insider
