Posted on 07/18/2022 9:42:44 AM PDT by Red Badger
Tendril-ly, Cthulhu-looking beigeish-pinkish sea creature extends its tentacles in a clump against the dark ocean.
This sea pen was an unexpected find in the Pacific Ocean by the crew of the E/V Nautilus.
E/V Nautilus; video screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET
I'll admit, I'd never heard of a Solumbellula sea pen until today, when I saw a tweet from the Exploration Vessel Nautilus showing an intriguing tentacle-y creature with a long thin stalk reaching down to the ocean floor. I was immediately enchanted. The Nautilus team called it "a thrilling discovery."
The sea pen made its appearance during a visit by a remotely operated vehicle, or ROV, to an unexplored seamount near Johnston Atoll, a remote spot to the west of Hawaii in the Pacific. It was unexpected. This is the first time this animal has been spotted in the Pacific. It's normally found in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The Nautilus came across two examples during the dive.
A video shot at a depth of 9,823 feet (2,994 meters) shows the moment of discovery, along with commentary from excited researchers. "That looks wicked," says one of them after the ROV got a close-up shot of the creature's food-capturing tentacles. For scale, the sea pen's stalk is 6.6 feet (2 meters) long.
VIDEO AT LINK..................
Sea pens are filed under cnidarians, a broad group of aquatic animals that includes corals and jellyfish. "Further review of the footage and this sample will help experts determine if this is the first Pacific S.monocephalus or potentially a new species in this ocean basin," the Nautilus team said on YouTube.
The research expedition at Johnston Atoll ran from June 20 to July 13 and was focused on studying the biodiversity of the area. The nonprofit Ocean Exploration Trust operates the ship and streams many of its ROV dives.
E/V Nautilus has lifted the veil on many wonders of the deep, from a rare jellyfish to a delightful "unidentified gelatinous creature." Said the team, "This huge range expansion of Solumbellula in the Pacific Ocean reminds us how important ocean exploration efforts are to understanding this diversity of our planet."
Climate change caused this to happen!
Lots of undiscovered creatures in the big deep.
They really are going to be shocked when something grabs the ROVer and starts pulling the ship down.
[[I wonder what it tastes like.]]
Chicken of the sea no doubt
That’s what I thought - it looks like a budding plant.
Never mind what it tastes like; is it an aphrodisiac?
Rosie O’donnel?
I've heard Doctor Harrison Schmitt (the only actual scientist to walk on the moon) state that the moon shows us evidence that the sun's light output changed at the same time the Cambrian Explosion occurred.
And can a doctor grab it’s tentacles and say “turn your head and cough.”
With or without porpoise?
Democrats are demanding drop boxes being available so the creature can cast its absentee ballot .
That was a pretty good movie.
L
I thught that was the “shot at and missed and shit at and hit” Species
New species? No! A newly discovered species? Perhaps!
Do they taste like Calamari?
That “thing” has deemed racist....being all white and not marching in a group.
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