From the first sighting of a colossal squid in the wild to a seriously goofy octopus, 2025 delivered some astounding photos from the ocean’s depths
A lot of weird-looking life-forms lurk in the deep sea, and this year we got some spectacularly close looks at several of them, including a goofy Doctor Who–esque octopus, alienlike Antarctic dwellers and the first-ever footage of a colossal squid in the wild. We’ve rounded up a few of our favorite ocean oddities below.‘Mystery Mollusk’ Is a Mystery No More
For more than two decades, scientists at California’s Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute have occasionally spotted a little translucent creature in the ocean’s “midnight zone.” The gelatinous blob uses a hood surrounding its head to catch prey and has detachable tentacles; its hood and tail are decorated with glowing blue-green dots. This year, scientists finally figured out what it is—the “mystery mollusk” is actually a nudibranch, or sea slug. In fact, it’s from an entirely new family of nudibranchs and has been dubbed Bathydevius caudactylus.On supporting science journalism
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