Scientist's 'mind is blown' after finding rare tentacle-trailing sea creature in ocean
dailystar.co.ukanimal as images of it, taken by their remote-operated vehicle (ROV), were beamed 10,000 feet back up to their vessel.READ MORE: Brit tourist's final moments before horror decapitation confirmed by investigator"My mind is blown right now," one of the scientists can be heard saying."I’m not on the edge of my seat or nothing," another joked.Another of the creatures was spotted moments later, though the team failed to capture video of the second sighting.
The tentacles of the animal were approximately 16 inches long and attached to a nearly 7-foot-long stalk, according to Live Science.
It resembled a free-swimming flower and was roughly the size of the team's ROV. It was seen at a depth of 9,823 feet on July 7 in the Pacific Ocean west of Hawaii.The research team initially thought the creature was a Solumbellula sea pen.
However, given that sightings have previously only occurred in the Atlantic and Indian oceans, they suspected they may have stumbled upon a completely new species. "From time to time, we come across something that we never expected to see, and those are often the most powerful observations," lead researcher Steve Auscavitch told Live Science.Auscavitch said the team were nearing the end of the cruise when they observed "two [sea pens]". "The one we captured on video was massive, possibly the same size or larger than Hercules, our ROV," he added. "When I saw this amazing sea pen on video, I knew exactly what it could be."The identity of the creature was later confirmed by biologists on land - it was a sea pen, which is a coral relative.
Read more on dailystar.co.uk
