When you’re interested in finding some of the most incredible exotic species of animals in the world, the depths of the deepest part of the world’s oceans is a great place to start, mostly because it’s such an unexplored and misunderstood region.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, better known as NOAA, was simply conducting scans of the bottom of the ocean with its Okeanos Explorer on April 24th when it suddenly stumbled upon something incredible.
12,140 feet down from the surface of the Pacific Ocean, the team discovered a lone jellyfish, but it’s not like any jellyfish we’ve ever seen before. It’s very colorfully detailed and has out-stretched tentacles that are likely just waiting for unsuspecting prey to swim into its reach to be ambushed.
The bell of the jellyfish was very much inactive and just seemed to move with the flow of water. Rather than chasing down prey, it seemed as though it was just sitting and waiting.
The internal parts and the body of the jellyfish appear to glow while the camera records it. It’s thought to belong to the genus Crossota, although it’s also thought to be a completely new species we’ve not yet studied before.
NOAA describes the odd creature in a statement, noting, “Its morphology is quite different from other seamounts in the region, which generally have a flat top with steep, smooth sides radiating out into narrow ridges. By contrast, this one is more circular in form and the sides are much less smooth."
You can see it in the following video recorded by NOAA:
While it was down there, NOAA’s remote controlled Okeanos Explorer collected samples of underwater rock to be studied. Researchers will be studying these rocks to learn more about the planet and its deep underwater mysteries.
Source: TechTimes, NOAA
