Casper the Friendly Octopus
Our Corps of Exploration spotted this Casper Octopus “walking” along the seafloor over 2,300m deep at ʻŌnūnui, ʻŌnūiki (Gardner Pinnacles), roughly 500 nautical miles northwest of Oʻahu. This cephalopod was first discovered by NOAA Ship Okeakos Explorer in 2016 in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and is still so new to science that they still haven’t been described and given a formal name yet. This tiny tentacled friend has a mantle less than 10 cm (4 inches) wide and lacks fins on the sides of its body and fingerlike cirri on the suckers on their arms- making it part of the incirrate octopus group. Take a look at this adorable deep sea creature and its semi-translucent, shimmering skin that gives us a glimpse inside its bulbous ghosty “Casper” head.
Ala ʻAumoana Kai Uli in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument
Ocean Exploration Trust and partners will conduct a telepresence-enabled expedition to explore unseen deep-sea habitats aboard E/V Nautilus with ROV and seafloor mapping operations in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM) focused on the largely unexplored northwestern section of the Monument.
