Image: Courtesy of Ben Burford.īurford analyzed video from over two dozen ROV dives at depths of 266 to 838 meters (about 870 to 2,750 feet), identifying individual Humboldt squid and taking detailed notes on their behavior. These patterns were documented by scientists using video from remotely operated vehicles. This illustration shows some of the body patterns used by Humboldt squid in Monterey Bay. “My goal in this study was to figure out why they were doing these things, and to link these behaviors to an environmental context.” “I was fascinated by the idea that deep-sea squids have all these complex behaviors, even when they’re in deep water where there’s almost no light,” said Burford. Burford is currently a PhD student at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station. The research was conducted using video from MBARI’s remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), and was documented in a new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by MBARI Senior Scientist Bruce Robison and MBARI collaborator Ben Burford.

The changes are visible even in the darkest depths of the ocean because the squids’ entire bodies glow in the dark, so the patterns are backlit like words on an e-reader screen. But new research suggests that, as they hunt, these squid communicate with each other using changing patterns of light and dark pigment on their skin. Humboldt squid are formidable predators, whose group foraging often resembles a feeding frenzy. Physical oceanography and climate changeĪ large group of Humboldt squid exhibit various color patterns on their bodies as they hunt small deep-sea fish about 500 meters (1,640 feet) below the surface of Monterey Bay.Bioluminescence: Living light in the deep sea.

Group of squids