Imagine looking over the railing of a ship, and seeing something that belongs on the cover of a Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas paperback staring back.
That’s essentially the scene photographed by Olivia Hickey, a Tasmanian jewelry artist traveling aboard Australia’s Antarctic research icebreaker, RSV Nuyina. In photographs shared on Instagram, an enormous squid-like creature appears just beneath the ocean’s surface, photographed from directly above.
See the creature Hickey spotted in photos, linked here, and below.
“Yesterday we had a visitor from the deep!” Hickey wrote.
For an animal associated with the darkest depths of the sea, that’s an almost impossibly lucky vantage point. And, frankly, a somewhat terrifying one.
Giant squid have inspired tales of the kraken for centuries. Their enormous eyes, powerful arms and long feeding tentacles make them look like something dreamed up by a particularly imaginative science-fiction director. Yet, despite their remarkable size, encounters with living animals are exceedingly rare.
That rarity has helped Hickey’s images attract attention online, with other accounts weighing in on the unexpected surface encounter. The precise species, size, and condition of the animal haven’t been independently verified, however. Giant squid and colossal squid are distinct animals, and the Southern Ocean is particularly associated with the latter.
Hickey’s unlikely front-row seat came aboard Nuyina, Australia’s 525-foot icebreaker and research vessel. The ship supplies remote Antarctic stations while carrying scientists who study everything from microscopic marine life to sea ice and the deep ocean.
Its current expedition departed Hobart on October 19, carrying personnel and equipment toward Casey and Davis stations. Voyage leader Christine Macmillian described heading south into waters where the ship would soon be “surrounded by icebergs.”
Related: Haunting New Footage of Giant Squid Revealed in Japan (Video)
The timing is intriguing. In 2025, scientists filmed a juvenile colossal squid in its deep-sea habitat for the first time, nearly 2,000 feet beneath the surface near Antarctica.
Hickey, meanwhile, didn’t need a remotely operated submarine. The ocean apparently brought the mystery right up to her ship.
It’s an unforgettable reminder that the Southern Ocean still holds creatures we know astonishingly little about—and that sometimes, they come to the surface.
Related: Giant Squid ‘Longer Than a School Bus’ Found 1,500ft Undersea (Video)
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