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The Most Mysterious Squid (That We Know Of) | Lindsay Nikole

Lindsay Nikole | April 26, 2026



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The deep sea keeps its secrets well and nothing proves that better than the big fin squid. After 140 years, we’ve never captured a confirmed adult. Watch footage that looks like straight-up CGI: elbow-bent arms, ultra-thin filaments dangling in the dark, and a body plan unlike anything else we know. From the first mangled baby dredged up in 1883, to a juvenile spotted over 20,000 feet down in the Hadal zone a place we thought was squid-free Magnapina is rewriting what we thought we knew about the deep ocean. We have a few dozen sightings, zero full specimens, and somehow this thing might be one of the most common large animals in the world’s biggest ecosystem.

MAGNAPINNA ARCHIVE: https://youtube.com/@magnapinnaarchive?si=CuQjPOcNLKUunQKW

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#LindsayNikole #giantsquid #deepsea

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ABOUT LINDSAY NIKOLE
Join zoologist Lindsay Nikole for vivid stories about evolution, animal behavior, and the wonderfully weird life around (and before) us. Each video dives into creatures you’ve never met and facts you’ll never forget, blending science with humor, visuals, and memorable explanations. From viral mystery IDs and prehistoric deep dives to myth-busting and conservation context, this channel makes complex biology easy and exciting to understand.

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Chapters
00:00 The Deep Sea’s Most Mysterious Creature
00:38 What Even Is a Squid? A Quick Recap
04:10 Found in Oceans Worldwide “But Nobody Knows Anything”
04:36 The First Specimen Ever Dredged (1883)
05:40 Decades of Misidentified Babies in Drawers
06:07 Officially Named “Magnapina” in 1998
07:34 First Ever Adult Footage “Gulf of Mexico (2001)”
08:12 Eight Videos, Multiple Oceans, Zero Answers
11:03 The Clearest Footage Yet “MBARI Hawaii (2001)”
13:01 2003 Serpent Project “First Close-Up Footage”
14:21 The Shell Clip That Shocked the World (2007)
15:16 Five Sightings at Once “Australia 2015”
17:17 NOAA’s “Windows to the Deep” Gulf of Mexico (2021)
18:00 Found in the Hadal Zone “Deepest Squid Ever (2022)”
19:13 Most Recent Sighting “Nautilus Expedition (2025)”
20:48 What We Know vs. What We Still Don’t

The Most Mysterious Squid (That We Know Of) | Lindsay Nikole
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrc2iv2-G1FZ3VscM3zu2jg

Written by Lindsay Nikole

Comments

This post currently has 33 comments.

  1. @ShireenLilith

    April 26, 2026 at 6:33 am

    This is prolly one of THE BEST ad segways IV eever watched and NGL usually im like "UGH , here we go for the ads" but yopurwas funny and smooth and I actually enjoyed you talking about it, now that stalent haha

  2. @November1031

    April 26, 2026 at 6:33 am

    As a Monterey Bay local, I'd LOVE to see an episode of you meeting with MBARI/The Monterey Bay Aquarium. I think you'd be really interested in their sea otter program and it's history. (The aquarium is in a former cannery which immensely over fished AND was a large part of several John Steinbeck novels.)

  3. @taigaririri

    April 26, 2026 at 6:33 am

    theyre actually kind of cute, we're just notoriously bad at taking pics from their good angles. Thanks for this video, I loved seeing more of this squid (also subnautica mention)

  4. @benmcreynolds8581

    April 26, 2026 at 6:33 am

    I appreciate their ability to hit that up right vertical Alien stance they do with those elbows. Besides that, there's nothing scary about these guys. They remind me of those crib mobiles toys. They seem so weak & breakable. Nothing physically intimidating about them

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