In late 2020 a team of scientists performing ecology surveys in the northern part of the Red Sea discovered a shipwreckOpens in a new tab. Upon close inspection of the wreck, a “massive” mysterious squid appeared; teasing the scientists with possibilities of what it could be. Now, the scientists think they know to which species the giant squidOpens in a new tab belongs. Although a new video of the creature still makes it seem like something that’d kick off an X-Files episode.
CNETOpens in a new tab reported on the newly released video of the mysterious giant squidOpens in a new tab. The team of scientists was aboard the maiden voyage of the research vessel, OceanXplorer.Opens in a new tab The OceanX organization, which aims “to create a deeply engaged global community of explorers, scientists, and storytellers,” launched this vessel in 2020.
In the video above, OceanX Science Program Lead Mattie Rodrigue describes the moment she and her colleagues aboard the vessel saw the mystery squidOpens in a new tab at a depth of 2,800 feet. Apparently, the scientists weren’t expecting it at all. And it appeared out of nowhere.
Some of you wanted to know more about the shipwreck where we saw a very large squid* last year.
— OceanX (@oceanx) October 8, 2021Opens in a new tab
*https://t.co/mglsfjgcp9Opens in a new tab pic.twitter.com/fWGtBBQPNUOpens in a new tab
Rodrigue describes how the crew aboard the research vessel was looking at the bow of the sunken ship, the Pella,Opens in a new tab in the video above, when a “massive creature [came] into view,” took “a look at the ROV,” and proceeded to curl its body around the bow of the wreck. (You can observe the look of absolute shock on Rodrigue’s face around two and a half minutes into the video.)
As for what the squid is? Rodrigue asks NOAAOpens in a new tab zoologist Dr. Michael Vecchione for his opinion in the video, and his educated guess is it’s a Purpleback Flying Squid. A “giant form” of the species of squid, to be exact. As the Natural Museum of HistoryOpens in a new tab notes, Purplebacks, or Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis, are cephalopod species in the arrow squid family. S. oualaniensis is common in the northern part of the Red Sea, although Vecchione notes this is the first time he’s seen one around a shipwreck.

It’s hard to say how giant the mystery squid is, but CNET reports that Rodrigue pegs it at larger than a human. Indeed, members of the arrow squid family can grow up to about seven feetOpens in a new tab in length. That makes this estimate firmly within the realm of possibility. Although something tells us there are much larger Purplebacks out there. Just waiting to freak out another team of scientists.