Passengers of a Viking-deployed submersible in Antarctica were able to catch the rare sight of the giant phantom jellyfish during the inaugural season of the ship, according to Forbes. These are creatures in the deep sea that may look like UFO ships to some extent.
Giant Phantom Jellyfish Spotted
The giant phantom jellyfish is considered one of the biggest invertebrate predators in the deep sea. On three occasions when they were spotted by guest passengers in early 2022, the researchers projected that it may have been longer than 16 feet. One of the fish may have been at least 33-feet long. This is based on a study published in the Polar Research journal.
Daniel Moore, first author of the study and one of the chief scientists of the Viking, realized that passengers had this rare encounter with the giant phantom jellyfish upon seeing a snap of it in the camera of one guest. According to Live Science, he mentioned that he instantly recognized the creature and was then filled with excitement, considering how rare it was to sight the marine species.
Moore further mentions that, in each sighting of the species, it apparently swims slowly as it gently pulses its bell. They did not seem to demonstrate any inclination toward the submersible's light, nor did they seem to react to the presence of humans.
The fish were seen at 260 feet, 285 feet, and 920 feet deep. They usually dwell as deep as 3,280 feet below. However, they can be encountered in higher levels across the Antarctic or Southern Ocean. Live Science reports that scientists still do not know why they stay in relatively shallow regions in Antarctica.
According to Moore, one possible reason for this is that the creatures swim higher in order to gain UV radiation exposure. This exposure rids them of parasitic creatures. Another potential explanation is that upwelling deep water spotted across the Antarctic moves them upward. Moore is hopeful that such observations may help them know better about the lives of the giant phantom jellyfish.
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How Rare Are Giant Phantom Jellyfish?
Giant phantom jellyfish actually fill all oceans except one: the Arctic Ocean. However, since they usually probe through the deep sea, humans rarely see them.
According to National Geographic, until this specific point in early 2022, there were only 125 documented observations of the giant phantom jellyfish, ever since they were first discovered and described back in 1910. Even Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute scientists, who have a wide submersible dive log that spans thousands of hours, were only able to spot nine giant phantom jellyfish.
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