Marine biologists watching the live feed of an underwater rover at 3,000 feet off the coast of California were shocked to find a purple creature on the sea floor that looked like a cartoon character.
The artists at Disney couldn’t draw it up any better. The wide-eyed purple octopus looked like it could be something out of Finding Dory.
But in actuality it’s called a stubby squid, otherwise known as Rossia pacfica. Oddly, it’s neither squid or octopus, but more closely related to a cuttlefish. Whatever you call it, it’s overwhelmingly cute.
The adorable little creature looked astonished as cameras zoomed in to reveal its position. Normally the stubby squid digs itself into the seafloor and waits for prey.
It’s cover was blown during a recent sweep by the Nautilus, an exploration vessel surveying the seafloor off the coast of Big Sur. The googly-eyed purple squid caught worldwide attention when the video was broadcast on the vessel’s live feed.
This is not the first time the Nautilus has discovered a strange sea creature. They recently spotted another purple blob thingy as well as a natural whale fall. It also spotted this smiling, nearly transparent fish during a dive earlier this week.
|DIVE ALERT| Smile, we’re diving on Partington Canyon off the coast of Big Sur, CA! Watch: https://t.co/Ajj54YYX2Q pic.twitter.com/Xm7h3mJZwu
— E/V Nautilus (@EVNautilus) August 15, 2016
Watch future live feeds at NautilusLive.
