Creepy and crawly creatures from under the sea: Researchers share Halloween favorites
There are all manner of creepy, crawly, bitey, slimy creatures deep in the ocean. Many are beautiful and graceful, but some are perfect for Halloween tales.
Researchers who have been diving down into the ocean’s depths with the Office of Ocean Exploration at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shared some of their favorite Halloween photos.
“Can’t very well have a countdown to a Halloween start to an Okeanos mission without at least one creepy crawly critter...like a sea spider! Despite their name, sea spiders (or pycnogonids) are not actually true spiders,” the researchers said on Facebook, sharing a photo of a seemingly faceless creature that could star in a horror movie.
Another post shows a deep sea squid lurking above one of the team’s remotely operated vehicles as it traverses the ocean floor.
The team is getting ready to go on a new mission starting Halloween day, setting sail with their submersibles to study deep ocean trenches off the southeastern United States. The researchers plan to explore the “unknown and poorly understood deepwater areas” along the margins of the North American continent.
This story was originally published October 30, 2019 at 10:31 AM with the headline "Creepy and crawly creatures from under the sea: Researchers share Halloween favorites."
