Alien-like Squid With "Elbows" Filmed at Drilling Site

Wow. It looks weird, exotic, and rare. I gotta have me one of those for dinner.

Just kidding of course.

What is it like two thirds of the planet is covered by oceans/water ?

The deeper you go , the weirder the creatures get ....and bigger IMA.
The deepwater squid and sharks are about the size of buses.

As far as underwater creatures are concerned, looking at the vastness and depths of the oceans, we've only scratched the surface.

On the other hand...
It does demonstrate to what lengths the oil companies have to go to find oil for our fuel inefficient cars though.

Thanks for bringing something interesting and non political to ATS !
Very Refreshing !!

It looks like one of those rare exotic seafood delacacies.

im pretty sure thats not an squid, have you ever played deadspace?
yeah its creepy as hell

Looks like some creatures I had to shoot and kill in the last Doom or Resident Evil Game I played. o.0

Are they sure thats a squid. I've watched documentaries on squid, and Giant Squid, and this thing has NONE of the main characteristics of a squid.

This is either an unknown species, or an alien, imo.

Quick get out the Shotgun

reply to post by argentus
Weird-looking creature, no doubt. I read all four pages on this thread, no one has asked what I thought would be the obvious question, " How does a squid, possessing no skeleton, have elbows?" What stiffens the upper part of the tentacles to keep them held out to the sides like that? Star and flag.

i love how the camera fly's back and forth for a more dramatic effect, like
"omg theres something down here"
"where?'"
"no zoom to the other side"
"no not there" the middle

"OMFG what is that"

lol

Maybe has been already stated but I believe the 'Alien-like' is in reference to the movie and the Alien creatures depicted within. The upper portion of the squid has a similar structure to the head of the Alien from the movie. That is where I see the reference, and if true, they should have stated it as much.

Other than that...cool looking creature and what else have we yet to discover?

maybe the aliens are drilling for oil and taking back to their planet

One word: NIGHTMARES. I have a dual fear of spiders and of the murky deep sea. I cannot stand the sound of whales singing just because of the underwater aspect... Anyhow, nice find. -SHIVER-

Fantastic. I too love seeing creatures I've never seen before.
Perhaps we should spend a little more time looking at our own planet before we go shooting things at other planets.

One thing I can't work out is the purpose of the kinks/elbows. Surely the squid uses its tentacles to catch prey, so having less structured limbs would be more beneficial. Why would they need the angle? Unless it's 'fishing' and using them in a manner similar to a spider's web...

The U.K.-based SERPENT (Scientific and Environmental ROV Partnership using Existing iNdustrial Technology) project, for example, matches oil companies with researchers "to make cutting-edge ROV technology and data more accessible to the world's science community,"

Reptilians?

reply to post by Badgered1


Sounds like you have the function of the "elbows" mostly figured out, or at least according to Bruce Robinson, deep-sea marine biologist of the Monterrey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California.....

Referring to the way the tentacles hang down from elbow-like kinks, Robison said: "Judging from that structure, we think the animal feeds by dragging its arms and the ends of its tentacles along the seafloor as it drifts slowly above it."

The elbow-like angles allow the tentacles to spread out, perhaps preventing them from getting tangled.

"Imagine spreading the fingers of a hand and dragging the fingertips along the top of a table to grab bits of food," he added.

But NOAA's Vecchione suggests a feeding behavior that is more like trapping than hunting. He speculates that Magnapinna passively waits for prey to bump into the sticky appendages.

Originally posted by tarifa37
All I can say is WOW!! Just when you think you have seen it all.That is the most alien looking thing I have ever seen .Looks like its straight off the set of some alien film. Certainly would not want to bump into it up a dark alley

[edit on 5-2-2010 by tarifa37]

Is that red blob its brain do you think?

Originally posted by tarifa37
All I can say is WOW!! Just when you think you have seen it all.That is the most alien looking thing I have ever seen .Looks like its straight off the set of some alien film. Certainly would not want to bump into it up a dark alley

[edit on 5-2-2010 by tarifa37]

It's beautiful in it's own mad way !!

reply to post by poet1b


They are wonderful creatures..

They simply have an entirely different nervous system to most animals which makes them different - they dont act like we expect. They are not stupid, that is for sure.... no more than if a shark eats a 10 year old boy is the boy stupid.

I just find these critters absolutely fascinating.. Evolution made them from a different perspective, that's all.. hence we cannot see it at face value - but they do show that they are intelligent.

reply to post by Mr Green


Hiya Ms. Green! Love your new avatar -- so much symbology...


I don't know the answer to your question...... maybe we can get Ravenshadow to weigh in and give us her informed opinion.

My guess would be that the red area is where the internal organs of the squid are. The head/eyes should be very close to the juction of the tenticles/arms and I think the two dark spots are its eyes.

I know that they are very intelligent creatures.... octopi also. I've had the pleasure of watching a small group hunting together, or at least that is what it appeared to me they were doing. It looked very strategic, with two members flanking a school of fry. The Caribbean reef squid have a set of internal lights, almost like a movie marquee, that "move" around their mantle. This effect is visible at night when a dive light is near but not directly on them. Edit to add: This nighttime photo sort of shows the areas of light/irridescence, although one really has to see it in person to see how amazing it looks.

[edit on 5/2/10 by argentus]

Originally posted by OrphenFire

One word: NIGHTMARES. I have a dual fear of spiders and of the murky deep sea. I cannot stand the sound of whales singing just because of the underwater aspect... Anyhow, nice find. -SHIVER-

Ahha so this would cause you do convulse then!

reply to post by Ha`la`tha


That looks like a channel crab. Yum. Y'know, the more I look at the video, the less it creeps me out. I like the easy undulation of the fins, and that it basically freezes (we think) when it spys the rover. Surely a very graceful creature.

However, if I were out looking for lobsters at night and happened to wander across one of these squid......... I'm pretty sure I'd set a me-speed-record in backward paddling.

reply to post by argentus





It's Japanese Spider crab, huge buggers - not sure about eating them, but they would scare the pants off me if I were having a dip and it crawled past.. oO

Haha, I agree, tho when it comes to thing like this sooo huge, larger than a pesky human, I think as blain said, we're on the menu there.. they do seem - like most other large ocean beasts - in control of their environment tho.

Still, I would pay to go down and see this thing in person.. just to see..



(edited for adding)

[edit on 5/2/2010 by Ha`la`tha]