A team of scientists were looking at live footage taken by an underwater robot when they were surprised by the appearance of what first appeared to be a deep-sea ghost.
The white thing floated in the distance, similar to that of a child in a ghost costume for Halloween. Its appearance was quite timely for the occasion but as the thing moved, the scientists had a good laugh as they recognized the ‘ghost’.
It turned out that the ROV Hercules, the underwater robot, had captured live footage of a dumbo octopus swimming in the distance.
The underwater robot had been dispatched from Exploration Vessel (E/V) Nautilus with the mission to explore the Davidson Seamount in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, just off the coast of California.
The scientists were no scared one bit by this deep-sea ‘ghost’ because they immediately recognized it for what it is – but netizens might feel a bit scared if they spot this on camera while they are exploring the reef.
“Oh oh oh oh, look! We've got a little octopus up in the column there,” a scientist excitedly exclaimed.
Another one could be heard quipping in, “That's a dumbo!”
“The world loves a dumbo,” another scientist said.
But while the dumbo octopus didn’t manage to scare the scientists with its ‘ghostly’ Halloween-like dramatic entrance, it did show off a bit as it glided past the underwater robot. It began to flap its fins and showed off the suckers underneath.
The scientists were giddy with excitement as dumbos are quite rare.
While the dumbo octopus didn’t turn out to be the scary ghosts that netizens expected, contemporary philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith thinks the encounter is extra special because he believes that “encountering an octopus is the closest we humans may ever come to meeting an intelligent alien.” This is an allusion to the fact that the cephalopod is actually quite intelligent despite its strange appearance.
Scary or cute, what do you think?
— Joy Adalia, The Summit Express
The white thing floated in the distance, similar to that of a child in a ghost costume for Halloween. Its appearance was quite timely for the occasion but as the thing moved, the scientists had a good laugh as they recognized the ‘ghost’.
 |
| Photo credit: YouTube / EV Nautilus |
It turned out that the ROV Hercules, the underwater robot, had captured live footage of a dumbo octopus swimming in the distance.
The underwater robot had been dispatched from Exploration Vessel (E/V) Nautilus with the mission to explore the Davidson Seamount in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, just off the coast of California.
 |
| Photo credit: YouTube / EV Nautilus |
The scientists were no scared one bit by this deep-sea ‘ghost’ because they immediately recognized it for what it is – but netizens might feel a bit scared if they spot this on camera while they are exploring the reef.
 |
| Photo credit: YouTube / EV Nautilus |
“Oh oh oh oh, look! We've got a little octopus up in the column there,” a scientist excitedly exclaimed.
Another one could be heard quipping in, “That's a dumbo!”
“The world loves a dumbo,” another scientist said.
But while the dumbo octopus didn’t manage to scare the scientists with its ‘ghostly’ Halloween-like dramatic entrance, it did show off a bit as it glided past the underwater robot. It began to flap its fins and showed off the suckers underneath.
 |
| Photo credit: YouTube / EV Nautilus |
The scientists were giddy with excitement as dumbos are quite rare.
While the dumbo octopus didn’t turn out to be the scary ghosts that netizens expected, contemporary philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith thinks the encounter is extra special because he believes that “encountering an octopus is the closest we humans may ever come to meeting an intelligent alien.” This is an allusion to the fact that the cephalopod is actually quite intelligent despite its strange appearance.
 |
| Photo credit: YouTube / EV Nautilus |
Scary or cute, what do you think?
— Joy Adalia, The Summit Express
