Giant squid lurking remote control media

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shares photos of a remote control vehicle, Deep Discoverer, being monitored by a giant squid.

The squid lurks and sneaks up from above while the vehicle is exploring the top of the slope. The image was taken in the Okeanos Explorer project to map the obscure deep seas on the southeastern edge of the United States."Do you feel like you're being watched? Luckily, Deep Discoverer has Seirios watching," NOAA said on Facebook.

The squid approaches the Deep Discoverer vehicle in the darkness of the ocean.(Photo: NOAA).

Seirios are camera sleds that are tied with cables to ships so they are not swept away by the ocean currents. The remote control vehicle can dive to a depth of 6km, giving scientists access to the corners of the ocean.

Deep Discoverer is capable of recording videos and taking pictures in high resolution. The vehicle's main camera can project organisms just one centimeter long from a distance of three meters. 20 LED lights of the Deep Discoverer have a brightness of up to 150,000 lumens, helping to illuminate the dark sea floor.

The Okeanos Explorer project lasts from October 31 to November 21. NOAA and its partners will continue to map and operate remotely operated vehicles on the Ship Okeanos Explorer to collect information along coastal Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. The expedition began in Miami and ended in Key West, Florida.

Although giant squid is extremely rare, this is not the first time NOAA has detected an individual from this species in the Okeanos project. In June, NOAA recorded a rare image of a giant squid in the Gulf of Mexico. The squid appears in waters off New Orleans, Los Angeles, about 160km southeast. The largest giant squid recorded is nearly 13 meters long and weighs 907kg, according to the Smithsonian.

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