David Attenborough’s famous BBC series Blue Planet 2 gave the world an insight into just how little our oceans had been explored. During the second episode of the programme, cameras revealed how a team of researchers were able to dive up to 1000m below the water thanks to new technology. Using a Triton submarine, they captured incredible footage as they entered the “Twilight Zone”.
The show headed into what appeared to be eternal darkness before suddenly, a strange-looking creature appeared.
Sir David revealed in 2017: “Humboldt squids – two metres long and 50 kilos in weight.
“Like most squid, they are voracious hunters.
“There are hundreds of them and they have found a shoal of lanternfish hiding 800 metres down off the coast of South America.
The triton submarine uncovered the find (Image: BBC)
The Homboldt squid lives in the Pacific Ocean (Image: BBC)
When there are no more lanternfish to be found, they turn on each other
“Their tentacles are armed with powerful suckers with which they grab their prey.”
The 92-year-old presenter then went on to reveal how this huge squid will turn cannibal to survive.
Sir David added: “When there are no more lanternfish to be found, they turn on each other.
“This squid has caught a smaller one in its tentacles.
“To hide its capture from the rest, it releases a smokescreen of black ink.
The Homboldt squid attacked the cameras (Image: BBC)
Homboldt squid is known to eat its peers (Image: BBC)
“But then, an even bigger one challenges it and steals its catch.
“The Twilight Zone is the Humboldt squid’s favourite hunting ground, they seldom go deeper.”
The Humboldt squid, also known as the Red Devil, gets its name from its reputation as a vicious predator among the Humboldt Current of the Pacific Ocean.
They have been known to attack humans, especially when hungry and are capable of quickly changing body colouration.
They notably flash red and white while hunting.
The pyrosome was also uncovered (Image: BBC)
The pyrosome is bigger than some sharks (Image: BBC)
However, this terrifying creature was not the most bizarre uncovered by the team during filming.
Heading deeper into the seas, researchers uncovered a strange creature bigger than a shark.
Sir David said in 2017: “The sunlight fades and the seas darken.
“Here in the Pacific, 1000m down, we enter an alien world – the Twilight Zone – a sea of eternal gloom.
“There are strange creatures here – a pyrosome – a tube of jelly two metres long that dwarfs a visitor from above, an oceanic whitetip shark.”
Pyrosomes are free-floating colonial tunicates that grow up to 60ft in length.
They are made up of hundreds to thousands of individuals known as zooids, commonly known as “sea pickles”.
Sir David continued to describe the alien-like scene as he spotted more unusual creatures.
He added: “Only a tiny amount of light filters down this far.
“Survival here means making the most of every last glimmer.”
The Histioteuthis heteropsis was also uncovered (Image: BBC)
The creature gets its name for its facial features (Image: BBC)
Then, 200m before reaching the surface, they uncovered the Histioteuthis heteropsis, also known as the Strawberry Squid.
The cephalopod, a member of the cock-eyed squid family, gets its name thanks to its bizarre facial features.
Sir David revealed during the same show: “What we found was a squid, but this is one that only lives here.
“Its right eye looks permanently downwards, but its left eye is much bigger and trained upwards to detect the silhouettes of prey swimming nearer the surface.
“No wonder it’s nicknamed the cock-eyed squid.”
The size of the squid’s upwards-facing left eye increases its sensitivity to the faint sunlight shining down from the surface.
In the murky waters, bioluminescent creatures – like the cock-eyed squid – camouflage themselves to escape danger.
This involves masking their shadows by emitting light that matches the intensity of the downwelling surface rays.
The squid’s yellow lens, common in some species of deep-sea fish, helps it pierce through this camouflage so it can detect bioluminescent prey such as shrimp.
The right eye, on the other hand, scans the waters below for bioluminescent flashes emitted by lurking predators or prey.
