A group of divers discovered a “car-sized ball of squid eggs” at 22 meters (72 feet) deep off the coast of Turkey. From RR Helm at Deep Sea News, who has a lot of excellent information about the find:
Lutfu Tanriover, the videographer, told me via Facebook the group felt a mixture of both excitement and fear as they approached the mysterious blob. The blob felt “very soft,” and looked gelatinous. But only after the video went online did the mysterious blob get a possible ID. Dr. Michael Vecchione of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History was the first to propose a suggestion. Dr. Vecchione is an expert on squid, and to him this giant sphere looks like a huge squid egg mass, and it’s the largest he’s ever seen. In fact, egg masses like this may be floating off many major coasts, not just Turkey’s.
According to Deep Sea News, a 3 and 4 meter (10 to 13 foot) long humboldt squid egg mass was found by marine biologist Danna Staaf in 2008 off the coast of California. Dr. Vecchione believes the 4 meter (13 foot) sack of eggs off the coast of Turkey may have been laid by an Ommastrephes bartramii, also known as the neon flying squid.
Explore more underwater science collaboration, including this ROV footage of deep sea creatures from the coast of Puerto Rico and two weeks under the sea at Aquarius Reef Base. Related squidness: The Magnapinna Squid
Updated video.
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