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Encounter 7000 m underwater - deepest octopus sighting

Listen to this article Scientists exploring the depths of the Indian Ocean, have encountered a Grimpoteuthis octopus at a depth of 7000m. This is the deepest documented encounter with an octopus in history. The small cephalopod, which bears the charming name ‘Dumbo’, referring to its resemblance to the character in Walt Disney’s animated film from
Published: June 1, 2020 - 09:00
Updated: July 22, 2023 - 19:56
Encounter 7000 m underwater – deepest octopus sighting
Listen to this article

Scientists exploring the depths of the Indian Ocean, have encountered a Grimpoteuthis octopus at a depth of 7000m. This is the deepest documented encounter with an octopus in history. The small cephalopod, which bears the charming name ‘Dumbo’, referring to its resemblance to the character in Walt Disney’s animated film from the .40s, has so far been seen at a maximum depth of 4,800m.

The encounter with the cute little one took place during the exploration of the Sunda Trench. The whole event, which brought a lot of new and interesting information and summarised the research conducted, was described in detail in the Marine Biology magazine.

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The scientist who had the pleasure of “meeting” Dumbo in the depths is Dr Alan Jamieson, a researcher who pioneered the exploration of the depths using so-called “landers”. These are special frames lowered over the side of research vessels, armed with a number of instruments and various apparatus. Once stabilised on the seabed, the devices record everything that happens around them.

During his research, Dr Jamieson filmed two octopuses – one at a depth of 5760m and the other to 6957m. The animals were 43 cm and 35 cm long respectively and were classified as octopuses from the family Grimpoteuthis, commonly known as Dumbo. To date, octopus fragments and eggs have been found at these depths, but until this discovery, the previous deepest reliable sighting was at 5145 m… 50 years ago in Barbados.

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The recorded encounter is of great importance to our knowledge of octopuses, as we are now confident that these animals can find a potentially suitable habitat on at least 99% of the seabed.

The observation described here was carried out as part of research carried out for the Five Deeps expedition, a project in which Victor Vescovo visited the deepest parts of all 5 oceans with his research vehicle. While Vescovo focused all the media attention, the team of scientists, including Dr Jamieson, quietly carried out their research.

Source: bbc.com

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About author

Tomasz Andrukajtis
Editor-in-chief of the DIVERS24 portal and magazine. Responsible for obtaining, translating and developing content. He also supervises all publications. Achived his first diving certification – P1 CMAS, in 2000. Has a degree in journalism and social communication. In the diving industry since 2008.
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