They came from the Deep

Have a look at this fella. It’s Teuthowenia pellucida or, perhaps more catchy, a Googly-Eyed Glass Squid. It lives in the ocean. When alarmed by a predator, or a photographer, it inflates its body up with water until it has become a semi-transparent sphere. If its extra size doesn’t discourage the predator then the squid fills its water-balloon body with ink. In this way it’s camouflaged in the darkness of its surroundings. What if it’s threatened during daylight hours? That’s not a problem. This squid lives deep down, beyond the reach of the sun.


The Googly-Eyed Glass Squid. You'd probably look weird to it. Copyright; www.deepseaphotography.com

But not as deep as the seafloor. The Googly-Eyed Glass Squid lives in the zone called 'midwater.' It floats between the sea surface and the bottom and keeps away from shores, those are all places fatally dangerous to this delicate creature. It's kind of spooky when you think about it, it lives in a world without walls, without edges and without ground. It just hovers in an endless void. Everywhere is the same. It is always exposed. This is why it has to be able to hide while still in view. There is nothing to hide behind.


Shy, but with a good sense of humour, the Dumbo Octopus.

This Pokémon-looking critter does live on the ocean floor, even when it's as deep 5000 metres. You and I would be squashed flat as pancakes at that depth. It is called Grimpoteuthis or the Dumbo Octopus. According to a book called The Deep, where I have been finding out about these and other creatures, the Dumbo Octopus is something of a mystery. “They are often observed resting on the bottom, with their mantle spread around them,” the writer says. “What are they doing there, sitting so quietly in the dark? Nobody knows.”

Thank you to Claire Nouvian who wrote The Deep and the lovely Ms. S who give me a copy of it for my birthday.