{"id":471158,"date":"2026-05-06T11:38:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T11:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/471158\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T11:38:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T11:38:18","slug":"giant-squid-detected-in-deep-sea-canyon-off-coast-of-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/471158\/","title":{"rendered":"Giant squid detected in deep-sea canyon off coast of Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deep-sea researchers exploring underwater canyons off the coast of Nyinggulu (Ningaloo), Western Australia, have discovered hundreds of species, including many rare creatures.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The scientists didn’t need to see the marine animals to know they are living in Australia’s deep waters \u2013 instead, they detected their presence through water samples.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As animals live out their lives, they shed tiny DNA particles through skin, mucus and faeces. Researchers can figure out what swam by recently by collecting small seawater samples and analysing them to detect these tiny traces (known as environmental DNA, or eDNA).\u00a0<\/p>\n

The scientists conducted surveys of the deep-sea Cape Range and Cloates canyons, which are located around 1,200km north of Perth, to try to find out more about the region\u2019s hidden biodiversity. They collected many different samples, some even as deep as 4,510m.<\/p>\n

The findings were published recently in the journal Environmental DNA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“These canyons are incredibly rich ecosystems and, until now, they\u2019ve been largely unexplored because of the difficulty of working at such extreme depths,”\u00a0said the study\u2019s lead author\u00a0Georgia Nester<\/a>. Nester is now a researcher at the University of Western Australia<\/a> but was a PhD candidate at Curtin University<\/a> at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“With eDNA, a single water sample can tell us about hundreds of species at once. That means we can dramatically expand our understanding of deep-water environments in a way that simply hasn\u2019t been possible before,” she adds.<\/p>\n

\"GeorgiaLead author Georgia Nester processes water samples for eDNA analysis. Credit: Credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute<\/p>\n

The eDNA results helped them to paint a picture of life far below the waves, even when they didn\u2019t directly observe many of the elusive species. Perhaps one of the biggest surprises was the presence of a giant squid<\/a>, a rarely seen deep-sea\u00a0cephalopod<\/a>\u00a0that has not been recorded in Western Australian waters for more than 25 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“This is the first record of a giant squid detected off Western Australia\u2019s coast using eDNA protocols and the northernmost record of [the species]\u00a0A. dux\u00a0in the eastern Indian Ocean,\u201d says\u00a0Dr Lisa Kirkendale<\/a>, WA Museum Head of Aquatic Zoology and Curator of Molluscs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thanks to their extensive tentacles<\/a>, giant squid can grow to more than\u00a013m long\u00a0and have eyes the size of dinner plates. Yet, these ocean behemoths are rarely seen because they live hundreds of metres below the surface.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinding evidence of a giant squid really captures people\u2019s imagination, but it\u2019s just one part of a much bigger picture,\u201d says Nester.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nester reveals more about how giant squid and other rare and elusive marine organisms were detected off Western Australia’s coast. Credit: Curtin University
\n\"GiantThe giant hydroid Branchiocerianthus was one of many species detected in the Cape Range and Cloates submarine canyons, Western Australia. Credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute<\/p>\n

The researchers found evidence of 226 species in the deep waters around the canyons. These included pygmy sperm whales \u2013 which release a cloud of intestinal fluid like a squid\u2019s ink when under threat to distract predators while they escape \u2013 and the world\u2019s deepest diving mammals, Cuvier\u2019s beaked whales<\/a>. They also recorded the wonderfully named bony-eared assfish.<\/p>\n

Some animals had never been detected in Western Australian waters before, such as sleeper sharks<\/a>, slender snaggletooths and faceless cusk eels. Other species might be new. \u201cWe found a large number of species that don\u2019t neatly match anything currently recorded, which doesn\u2019t automatically mean they\u2019re new to science, but it strongly suggests there is a vast amount of deep-sea biodiversity we\u2019re only just beginning to uncover,\u201d adds Nester.<\/p>\n

\"Deep-seaThe scientists found evidence of the deep-sea cucumber Enypniastes. Credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute – Schmidt Ocean Institute<\/p>\n

Discovering how many creatures are thriving in these deep-sea habitats plays an important part in informing protection measures.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeep-sea ecosystems are vast, remote and expensive to study, yet they face growing pressure from climate change, fishing and resource extraction,\u201d says senior author\u00a0Zoe Richards<\/a>, associate professor at Curtin\u2019s School of Molecular and Life Sciences.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnvironmental DNA gives us a scalable, non-invasive way to build baseline knowledge of what lives there, which is essential for informed management and conservation,\u201d she adds. \u201cYou can\u2019t protect what you don\u2019t know exists.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Pictures: life in Western Australia’s deep-sea canyons<\/p>\n

These images, captured by Schmidt Ocean Institute<\/a> researchers, reveal the vast array of life in Western Australia’s deep-sea canyons.<\/p>\n

\"Taning'sTaning’s octopus squid (Taningia danae). Credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute
\n\"Siphonophore\"Siphonophore. Credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute
\n\"FacelessFaceless cusk eel. Credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute
\n\"Cock-eyedSchmidt Ocean Institute researchers watch an inquisitive cock-eyed or jewel squid wrap its arms around a brush attached to ROV SuBastian, which allows them to gather tiny amounts of DNA for analysis. Credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute
\n\"MegalocranchiaMegalocranchia squid, observed in Cape Range Canyon, Australia, at a depth of 2,442m. Credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute
\n\"AndrewAndrew Hosie (Curator, Western Australian Museum) photographs a beautiful specimen during a busy evening in the wet lab. The moment ROV SuBastian lands back on deck, the science team jump into action to process their finds as quickly and efficiently as possible. Credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute
\n\"Siphonophore\"Siphonophore. Credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute
\n\"BarathritesThe cusk eel Barathrites iris, observed at a depth of 4,470m in Ningaloo Canyons. This is deepest fish ever recorded from Western Australia. Credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute, via Glen Moore (Curator of Fishes Western Australian Museum)<\/p>\n

Images and video credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute<\/a> | Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA Attribution<\/a><\/p>\n

More amazing wildlife stories from around the world<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Deep-sea researchers exploring underwater canyons off the coast of Nyinggulu (Ningaloo), Western Australia, have discovered hundreds of species,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":471159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[273],"tags":[18,19,17,133,461],"class_list":{"0":"post-471158","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116527439609320136","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}