Adorable Baby Octopus in Cook Islands Deep Sea

OET’s Corps of Exploration never tires of spotting a cephalopod while exploring the deep sea. Delightfully, during our exploration in the waters of the Cook Islands, we came across this mini octopus while diving with ROV Little Hercules over 5,100 meters deep. While the team exploring live initially guessed it was a dumbo octopus, a closer look at the footage leads us to believe this is a baby cirrate octopus from the Cirrothauma genus. This type of octopus is unique in that they lack lenses in their eye and can be recognized because the eyes are covered by tissue in the head, making them less visible than the eyes on their dumbo octopus relatives. Enjoy stunning views of this delicate gelatinous individual thanks to the expedition's field testing of DeepSea’s MxD camera!

The NA176 Deep Sea Habitats of the Cook Islands expedition is supported by NOAA Ocean Exploration via the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute using the ROV, mapping, and telepresence systems of E/V Nautilus to explore deep-sea areas prioritized by the Cook Islands government and local stakeholders. All collected data will be made publicly available to stimulate further exploration and research, and to support ongoing local management and future decision-making for the Cook Islands by Cook Islanders.