This Mesmerising Underwater Blob Is Actually A Huge, Rare Mass Of Squid Eggs
A team of divers filmed a rare glimpse of a huge transparent egg sac containing hundreds of thousands of baby squid. The stunning underwater video was filmed by Ronald Raasch, 48, as he was diving with two other team members from the research vessel REV Ocean in the cold waters outside Ørsta, Norway.
It's unclear exactly which species of squid produced the Ørstafjorden mass. The REV Ocean Twitter account referenced the "10-armed squid", but since all squids have 10 tentacles, there is no squid with that common name. And it's often very hard to conclusively identify marine species just by the eggs, anyway. Squids that live in the Norwegian Sea that the fjord connects to include the European flying squid (T. sagittatus) and the much smaller Boreoatlantic armhook squid (Gonatus fabricii). However, another Gonatus species, G. onyx, has been observed actually brooding its eggs, so it may be a less likely candidate. Interestingly, G. onyx has also been observed pumping seawater into her egg mass to inflate it, so that may be another clue about how the masses get so big. Overall, the finding - and our knowledge of squid eggs in general - is shrouded with plenty of unknowns. But whatever the species, the sight of the egg mass is certainly a magical one.