National Geographic/YouTube
While filming underwater, two divers managed to capture when one of the rarest creatures in the ocean: a giant sea worm! One of the largest ever captured, no less. Thankfully, they managed to get it all on films for millions worldwide to see!
Diver And Sea Worm Encounter
National Geographic/YouTube
Imagine it: you are simply swimming through the ocean, minding your own business. Next thing you know, you see a vast, pink tube – floating right towards you! While most of us would swim towards shore as fast as possible, these divers did not feel afraid! Instead, they opted to join the 26-foot-long pyrosome, better known as a giant sea worm, for a swim. Videographer Steve Hathaway and his friend Andrew Buttle were diving off the coast of New Zealand when the two met the massive sea worm. In fact, it was so large that they could both swim through the creature’s hollow center!
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Hathaway said as he looked at the worm. Hathaway didn’t know the half of it, the sea creatures are quite fascinating. Pyrosomes actually consist of free-flowing colonies of other, smaller animals, called zooids. The zooids form a frame of sorts, then filter-feed, pumping water through their bodies, eating plankton, excrements, and detritus, while filtering out the stuff they don’t need. While looking at the creature, it was hard for the divers to believe their eyes…
Seeing Is Believing
National Geographic/YouTube
As the divers swam alongside the giant sea worm, they noticed something not even the cameras picked up! “It was pretty incredible,” Buttle said. “We could see hundreds of thousands of tiny creatures right up close.”
While pyrosomes are relatively common in the waters, they are usually a lot smaller. Pyrosomes are usually around two centimeters long, but one has never been seen this long! Hopefully, this new discovery gives us lots of new info on these creatures, as it’s still unclear how the zooids from their pyrosome colonies. Scientists think it might have something to do with the warm water. “You always see something new around this time,” Hathaway said about the underwater meeting.
In the past, the two diver friends already met manta rays and whales. Who knows what they will spot on their next trip?
