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A sea cucumber known as "headless chicken monster" was filmed for the first time in the Southern Ocean with the help of a camera technology developed by researchers Australian.
The creature was filmed off East Antarctica and this is the first time the species has been seen in the region.
"Some of the images we receive from the cameras are breathtaking, including species we have never seen in this part of the world," said Australian Antarctic Division program director Dirk Welsford.
The creature, Enypniastes eximia, had previously been seen only in the Gulf of Mexico. It was captured in the Southern Ocean by cameras developed by the Australian Antarctic Division.
"The housing that protects the camera and electronic components is designed to attach to toothfish longlines in the Southern Ocean, so it must be extremely durable," said Dr. Welsford.
"We needed something that could be projected on the side of a boat and that would continue to run reliably under extreme pressure in the diving black for long periods of time."
The data collected from the cameras are presented at the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora held Monday in Hobart.
The Australian commissioner for the meeting will advocate for the creation of a new Marine Protected Area in East Antarctica.
"The Southern Ocean is home to an incredible abundance and variety of marine life, including commercially valuable species, whose exploitation must be carefully managed for future generations," said the Commissioner Gillian Slocum.
The 10-day meeting will also include proposals on how to respond to climate change.
This is not the only surprise discovery of Australian scientists when exploring the deep blue sea.
While investigating the Commonwealth marine reserves from northern Tasmania to central Queensland, CSIRO investigators discovered a bizarre "faceless fish".
The strange creature had been captured about 140 years earlier, in the 1870s.
This story originally appeared in news.com.au.
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