Stop the presses folks, oceanographers have discovered an adorable form of sea life which has never been seen before by humans. Ocean scientists spotted, what’s been described as a “ghostlike octopod” sitting on the sea floor in the Pacific Ocean.
NOAA scientists noticed the creature during the first expedition dive of their Deep Discoverer, a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Its mission was to take samples and explore the northeast side of Necker Island (part of the Hawaiian Archipelago).
At 4,290 meters down scientists noticed the ghost-like creature sitting on a flat rock. “Upon further review, this ghostlike octopod is almost certainly an undescribed species and may not belong to any yet-described genus,” the team wrote.
This creature they observed seems to lack pigment cells, which explains its ghostly complexion. Some have suggested naming the creature Casper, because of its striking resemblance to the friendly cartoon ghost.
Watch this curious creature as it skirts across the sea floor, and listen to the scientists become absolutely confounded by this cute cephalopod:
The Deep Discoverer is small part of NOAA’s larger mission aboard the ship Okeanos Explorer. Its mission is not unlike the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek. It’s an exploratory vessel used to map out the more unknown parts of our ocean (there’s a whole 95% we have yet to see). This year, the ship and its crew are charting the deep waters off Hawaii. So far, it seems like it’s off to a good start.