Since its launch in 2008, the Ocean Survey Trust ‘s Nautilus research vessel has flown a purple orb, a prominent squirrel, and a jagged octopus from the bottom of the ocean. The latest bizarre example of marine life captured by the rare eel is a gulper eel that acts as a cross between a python and a pufferfish.
As Thrillist reports, this film was shot by a Nautilus rover that was circling the Papahanaumokuakea Pacific National Maritime Monument 4700 feet below the surface. Recorded shows a black, slippery, black creature that appears to have swallowed a beach ball rising above the seabed. After about a minute, the eel breaks its throat, swims around for a bit, and sucks its strings to reveal a gaping mouth.
The views of the scientists on board the ship are as good as the display the animal is putting on. At first they’re not sure what they look like (“It looks like a Muppet,” someone says), and after being swept away by their shape-shifting skills, they conclusion that it is a gulper eel. Gulper eels are known for their impressive gullet range, which allows them to swallow prey much larger than themselves and puff up to scare off predators. Because they like to fatten at least 1500 feet below the surface of the ocean, they are rarely recorded.
You can watch the compressed eel and hear the researchers’ response to it in the video below.
[h/t Thrillist]