So cute! Credit: Maroni et al./Polar Biology
Fifty meters below the surface of a Greenland fjord is not the place one might expect to find squid. Yet there she was, beside clusters of tiny eggs.
Researchers exploring Northeast Greenland National Park have filmed the ultrarare Arctic bobtail squid, Rossia moelleri, in its natural habitat for the first time—a mature female near three clusters of eggs in subzero water. The finding gives scientists their first proof that these animals reproduce in a remote fjord system that remains barely studied as the Arctic warms quickly.
A Squid at Minus 1.6° Celsius
Adorable! Credit: Maroni et al./Polar Biology
The sighting came in September 2025 during a Polar BLAST expedition aboard the M/S Freya, a Secret Atlas micro-cruise supported by Yachts for Science. The team lowered a lightweight remotely operated vehicle, fitted with a 4K GoPro Hero 13 camera, floodlights, and laser scales, into Kong Oscar Fjord near Jameson Land.
At about 50 meters down, where the water measured about minus 1.6° Celsius (29°F), the camera found the squid beside egg capsules attached to rock. The study estimated the three grape-like clusters held about 50, 33, and 22 eggs, respectively. The squid measured roughly 10 centimeters (4 inches) long.
“The squid and eggs were recorded at a depth of 50 meters in water around −1.6 °C, which highlights the resilience of marine life in one of Earth’s most extreme environments,” Dr. Paige Maroni, a deep-sea biologist at the University of Western Australia’s School of Biological Sciences and Oceans Institute and the lead author of the study, said in a press release.
The researchers claim this is the first confirmed in-place record of Rossia moelleri and egg masses from Northeast Greenland National Park. The park spans about 972,000 square kilometers, yet its underwater life remains sparsely documented.
“Northeast Greenland National Park is the largest national park on Earth but one of the least biologically documented marine regions in the Arctic,” Dr. Maroni added.
Small Squid, Big Implications
The eggs. Ai enhanced image of the ROV footage, original image linked here. Credit: Maroni et al./Polar Biology
Bobtail squid are cephalopods, the group that includes octopuses and cuttlefish. They act as both predators and prey, linking different parts of the marine food web. Their short lives also make them quick responders to changes in temperature and salinity. Through them, researchers can investigate shifts that may be harder to see in slower-growing animals.
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The study notes that previous surveys had found very few confirmed cephalopod records from Northeast Greenland. A database search inside the park found more than 14,000 marine biodiversity records, but only seven were attributed to cephalopods. Earlier reviews listed 18 cephalopod species in Greenlandic waters, yet none had confirmed records from within the park.
The eggs also helped confirm the species. Other Arctic Rossia species often lay eggs in sponges. These capsules sat directly on hard seafloor, matching known descriptions of R. moelleri reproduction. The cold, shallow fjord setting also fits the species’ known Arctic range.
A New Arctic Baseline
Northeast Greenland faces rapid environmental change as sea ice retreats and glaciers lose mass. These shifts can alter nutrient flow, plankton growth, and prey availability across fjords. A single verified breeding record gives scientists a reference point for future surveys. But is this squid a long-term resident, part of a little-seen population, or a sign of changing ranges?
“Establishing knowledge of the biodiversity in this region is crucial for understanding ecosystem function and resilience under accelerating climate change,” Dr. Maroni explained. “This study provides a valuable new baseline for tracking ecological change in the rapidly warming Arctic.”
The discovery also shows how smaller expeditions can expand polar science. Research vessels remain expensive and scarce. In this case, a tourism vessel, a small robot and a camera reached a fjord that larger ships often cannot.
“Our results show low-impact science and expedition tourism can help fill major biodiversity gaps in remote polar regions,” Dr. Maroni said in the release. “In poorly studied polar ecosystems, even one verified observation can provide important insight into species distributions, reproduction and resilience under climate change.”
The study was published in the journal Polar Biology.