Weird and wonderful sea life

These images from recent deep sea exploration show how weird and wild it is under the sea.

Some of the pictures taken by remote cameras of never-before-seen areas, especially off the eastern Pacific, show what looks like an imaginary world. There’s a delicate jellyfish, an eel with a strange head and a purple disco ball-like critter. And just in time for Halloween, there’s a rare purple vampire squid, nicknamed for its red eyes and deep color. The images are being shown as part of the National Ocean Exploration Forum, October 2016, in New York.

“We’re continually surprised by the variety of life that we find and what we’re seeing,” said Nicole Raineault, science operations director at the Ocean Exploration Trust. “It just underscores what little we know about the ocean and how much more there is to discover out there.”

Photo: A bioluminescent jellyfish during a deepwater exploration of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument area in the Pacific Ocean near Guam and Saipan, April 24, 2016. 

Vampire squid

A vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis), a deep-sea cephalopod, is seen during an overnight dive in the Gulf of Mexico, June 27, 2014. Its name comes from its deep color and red eyes, not because it feeds on blood. 

Dives in the expedition ranged from 250 to 6,000 meters (820 feet to 3.7 miles) deep. 

Rare fish

A fish, of the family Aphyonidae, which had never before been seen alive, is pictured during a deepwater exploration of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument area near Guam and Saipan, June 30, 2016. 

Squid

A squid near the sea floor of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument area in the Pacific Ocean, June 30, 2016.

Parapagurid hermit crab

A parapagurid hermit crab hosting an anemone which secretes a “shell” for the crab, during a deepwater exploration of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument area in the Pacific Ocean near Guam and Saipan, May 4, 2016. 

Hermit crabs usually use a snail or other shell as protection. 

Acorn worm

An acorn worm on the “Twin Peaks” underwater formation during an exploration of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument area, June 30, 2016. 

Stalked crinoid animal

A stalked crinoid animal during a deepwater exploration of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument area near Guam and Saipan, April 29, 2016. 

Deep sea anglerfish

A deep sea anglerfish living between pillow basalt rock formations, in th Marianas Trench Marine National Monument area near Guam and Saipan, April 30, 2016. 

The ambush predator waits for prey to be attracted by its lure, located between its eyes, and gulps it with its large mouth.

Cutthroat eel

A cutthroat eel at 3,145 meters (1.9 miles) deep on Stegasaurus Ridge, during a deepwater exploration of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument area near Guam and Saipan, June 27, 2016. 

The eels are abundant in the deep ocean and active day and night. 

Benthic comb jellyfish

A benthic comb jellyfish at the Ahyi Seamount in the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument area, June 22, 2016. 

Blind lobster

A large blind lobster pops its head out of a hole during a deepwater exploration of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, April 30, 2016. 

Cusk eel

A cusk eel with an unusual bulbous head shape with small eyes, large nostrils, and a mouth placed low on the head, in the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument area, June 29, 2016. Researchers believe this could be a new species.

Crab and purple orb

A crab, bottom, stands near an unidentified purple orb during a deep sea expedition around the Channel Islands off the coast of California, July 2016. After sampling, it began to unfold to reveal two distinct lobes; researchers thing it may be a pleurobranch sea slug, a close relation to the nudibranch, but currently, none of the known species of California deep-sea pleurobranchs are purple. 

Predatory tunicate

A predatory tunicate, an invertebrate animal, during a deepwater exploration of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument area, April 26, 2016.

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