It's a baby!
Up until now the colossal squid have proved impossible to capture in their natural habitat, in the crushing dark of 600 metres below the surface of the sea.
So it's been a very exciting week for Dr Kat Bolstad, a squid expert and associate professor at Auckland University of Technology, who was called on to verify the spotting.
She speaks to Emile Donovan about the significance of this footage.
The Schmidt Ocean Institute team captured footage of the 30cm long squid at a depth of 600m. Colossal squid are estimated to grow up to 7m in length. Photo: ROV SuBastian / Schmidt Ocean Institute