The Best of What MBARI Saw in 2025

The Monterrey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) has many projects, but we love to see them observing strange and rare creatures in the deeper parts of the ocean. Their research ships use Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) to go deeper than divers can to send back amazing video of sea life in its native environment. In this video, they show off the most spectacular footage their robots sent back in 2025. These animals, seen between 2400 and 3100 feet below the surface, are as follows:

0:00 Shiny loosejaw (Aristostomias scintillans)
0:08 Crown siphonophore (Stephanomia amphytridis)
0:16 Longhorn decorator crab (Chorilia longipes)
0:23 Owlfish (family Bathylagidae)
0:31 Slender siphonophore  (Bargmannia elongata)
0:40 Octopus squid (Octopoteuthis deletron)
0:46 Market squid (Doryteuthis opalescens)
0:54 Roughtail skate (Bathyraja trachura) 
0:58 Giant siphonophore (Praya dubia)
1:02 Banded piglet squid (Helicocranchia pfefferi)
1:13 Armored sea cucumber (Psolus squamatus)
1:18 Swordtail squid (Chiroteuthis calyx)
1:24 Bumpy jelly (Stellamedusa ventana)
1:32 Pacific sergestid shrimp (Eusergestes similis)
1:45 Sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria)
2:04 Striated sea elephant (Firoloida desmarestia) 
2:11 Sea anemone (order Actiniaria)
2:19 Pacific blackdragon (Idiacanthus antrostomus)
2:22 Clown siphonophore (Lychnagalma utricularia)
2:30 Fingered goblet sponge (Heterochone calyx)
2:34 Dandelion siphonophore and Pacific sergestid shrimp (Dromalia alexandri and Eusergestes similis)
2:42 Black-eyed squid eating a northern lampfish (Gonatus onyx eating Stenobrachius leucopsarus)
2:53 Longhand hermit crab (Pagurus tanneri) 
3:00 Silky jelly (Colobonema sericeum)
3:05 Bloody-belly comb jelly (Lampocteis cruentiventer)
3:13 Peacock squid (Taonius sp.)
3:17 Sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria)
3:21 California firefly squid (Abraliopsis felis)
3:36 Neon jelly (Tetrorchis erythrogaster)
3:44 Lewis’s moon snail (Neverita lewisii)
3:51 Shiny loosejaw (Aristostomias scintillans)
3:59 Crown siphonophore (Stephanomia amphytridis)

You can also hover over the progress bar at the bottom of the video to see the names. I would recommend watching this in full screen mode.