Rare, ghostly glass octopus photographed on recent Pacific Ocean expedition
The transparent wonder was observed by the Schmidt Ocean Institute during a recent expedition to the Phoenix Islands.
Jackson Ryan
July 16, 2021 5:57 p.m. PT
Over the last month, a team of researchers from the Schmidt Ocean Institute has been exploring the depths of the Pacific Ocean, close to the remote and mostly uninhabited Phoenix Islands, east of Kiribati. The Institute's ocean adventures routinely uncover some of the great wonders of the deep ocean, like coral reefs as tall as the Empire State Building and this 34-day expedition was no different.
During the expedition, which recently returned to shore, Schmidt researchers got real lucky. They made two sightings of a rarely seen cephalopod: the glass octopus, Vitreledonella richardi. The transparent marvel has been known to science since 1918, but it is difficult to study because it lives in the depths of the open ocean. Previous studies of the creature have been limited to analyzing specimens retrieved from the guts of predators.
"The ocean holds wonders and promises we haven't even imagined, much less discovered," Wendy Schmidt, co-founder of the institute, said in a press release.
Schmidt Ocean Institute
"Expeditions like these teach us why we need to increase our efforts to restore and better understand marine ecosystems everywhere -- because the great chain of life that begins in the ocean is critical for human health and well being," Schmidt said.
More:
https://www.cnet.com/news/rare-ghostly-glass-octopus-photographed-on-recent-pacific-ocean-expedition/
= new reply since forum marked as read
by Matthew Hart
Jul 16 2021 • 1:23 PM
In 2017, the Schmidt Ocean Institute—a research institute founded by husband and wife team Eric and Wendy Schmidt —sent its Falkor research vessel to the southern half of the Phoenix Islands in the central Pacific Ocean, north of Samoa. There, the team aboard Falkor explored “never before seen” deep sea ecosystems, and some of the weirdest sea creatures ever. Including the truly alien-looking specimens in the 4K video below.
The Institute recently posted its “Deep-Sea Corals of the Phoenix Island” highlight reel to its YouTube channel. For those unfamiliar, the institute was founded by the former Google CEO and his wife as a nonprofit that aims to advance oceanographic research. That research also hoped to discover new life forms, much like the bunch of bizarre lifeforms seen in the video that look like doodles out of H.P. Lovecraft’s notebook.
Schmidt Ocean Institute
As for the line-up of creatures in the video, it’s hard to say where we should begin. There are certainly some (relatively) mundane sea creatures—sponges, crabs, eels, etc.—but they only serve as palate cleansers between bites of Holy crap, WTF is that thing?!
Link to tweet
More:
https://nerdist.com/article/deep-ocean-reel-weird-sea-creatures-glass-octopus/
Ty, Judi Lynn! 
Thank you, Judi Lynn.......
