Researchers Spot Rare 33-Foot Phantom Jellyfish Off The Coast Of California

The world is a wonderful and strange place when you look into the deepest parts of the ocean. It seems as if the more we look, the more we discover and some of it is beyond unusual.

That includes a phantom jellyfish that was spotted about a year ago off the West Coast.

According to Live Science, a remote submarine spotted the 33-foot jellyfish with ribbons protruding from its body like “mouth arms” at a depth of 3,200 feet.

Although rare, this isn’t the first time that a Phantom jellyfish has been spotted. According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, the first of these jellyfish was collected in 1899. This more recent spotting is one of the only 100 times that they have encountered the jellyfish since then.

The Internet tends to spread things quickly, but in this case, it is going viral after the footage was taken last year. The phantom jellyfish, which is among the largest jellyfish in the world, is a creature with a lot of mystery surrounding it.

The reason why it is so difficult to learn more about the creature is that it lives so far under the surface of the ocean. In order for this one to be spotted, a remote-controlled submarine was used.

The “mouth arms” that are clearly seen in the video are not fully understood, but scientists feel that they use those tentacles to grab their prey and pull it into their mouths.

Unfortunately, they weren’t able to bring the jellyfish to the surface for further studies. There were using trawl nets at the time but according to the Institute: “Jellies disintegrate into gelatinous goo in trawl nets.”

You can see the jelly for yourself in the video below: