Discovering the Hidden World The Rising Fame of the Dumbo Octopus in the Deep Sea
While not a flying elephant, it’s a truly rare sight
Deep-sea explorers off the coast of Hawaii recently unveiled captivating video footage of a dumbo octopus, the deepest-dwelling member of the octopus family. This unique creature, known for its distinctive ear-like fins that it employs for propulsion as it hunts snails and other invertebrates in the deep ocean, draws its moniker from Disney’s beloved, big-eared animated character, Dumbo.
Encountering a dumbo octopus is akin to finding a needle in a haystack. This octopus genus is both infrequent and elusive, residing at staggering depths of up to 13,000 feet—territory largely beyond human reach.
The vastness of the ocean can be a solitary place, leading female dumbo octopuses to adopt a clever reproductive strategy. They carry eggs at various stages of development, ensuring they can mate with any fortuitous males they encounter during their solitary journeys to the ocean floor to lay their eggs on rocks.
Researchers have identified more than a dozen species of dumbo octopuses, with the largest one on record measuring nearly six feet in length, as reported by the environmental group Oceana. However, the majority are considerably smaller. Due to their limited interactions with predators in the deep sea, dumbo octopuses lack ink sacs, a defense mechanism found in other cephalopods.
Jaina Galves, who operated the underwater camera, shared her astonishment upon witnessing the creature on the screen, recalling, ‘When I saw it on the screen, I couldn’t even say anything. My jaw was just on the floor.’
This extraordinary footage was captured using a remotely operated vehicle deployed by the E/V Nautilus, a research vessel operated by the nonprofit Ocean Exploration Trust.
The expedition’s focus lies within the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, an expansive sanctuary in the Pacific spanning over 500,000 square miles—an area larger than all U.S. national parks combined.”
