It’s no secret humans have yet to discover the majority of creatures lurking in the deepest depths of the ocean. But any time we are offered a glimpse of what’s swimming far deeper than any fishing lure or squid jig can reach, my eyes widen in awe.
This morning, UK’s Daily Mail reported a quick analysis of the YouTube video below that surfaced last week — an unidentifiable sea creature as it was recorded at 5,056 feet by an Oceaneering deep-sea remote-controlled underwater camera.
Sure, as the Daily Mail breaks down, it could be free-floating debris or a whale placenta/amniotic sack, propelled by deep currents. But what are those glowing, alien-like organs that appear in the upper-right corner of the video at around 1:41? They seem to practically bloom out of the creature at 4:00.
Is it looking at us? Waving goodbye at 4:28? I think the view at 5:10 is where folks are guessing it might be a fishing net. But I disagree, leaning more toward the new-species-of-jellyfish theory.
I can’t wait to see what scientists say as this video makes its way around the world.
**UPDATE 5/10/12 1:25pm: **And we have an answer! According to an article posted by The Telegraph:
Experts have however confirmed that it is in fact a Deepstaria enigmatica, a jellyfish from the Ulmaridae family first discovered in 1967 by F.S. Russel. The invertebrae is usually found in the South Atlantic ocean.
