{"id":301245,"date":"2026-02-20T15:23:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T15:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/301245\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T15:23:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T15:23:12","slug":"a-jellyfish-the-size-of-a-school-bus-the-new-scientific-discovery-in-the-argentine-sea-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/301245\/","title":{"rendered":"A jellyfish the size of a school bus: The new scientific discovery in the Argentine Sea | Science"},"content":{"rendered":"

Argentina\u2019s deep sea holds more biodiversity than scientists previously thought. An expedition that traveled from the north of Buenos Aires province to Tierra del Fuego<\/a>, the country\u2019s southernmost point, observed the world\u2019s largest known Bathelia candida coral reef, worms, sea urchins, snails, anemones, and a specimen that captured the public\u2019s attention: a rare phantom jellyfish that can grow as large as a school bus. <\/p>\n

The expedition, led by Argentine scientists from the University of Buenos Aires and the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), departed aboard the research vessel Falkor and explored the entire continental shelf of the country between December and January. This vessel, belonging to the Schmidt Ocean Institute<\/a>, is the same one that hosted another scientific campaign last year in the submarine canyon off Mar del Plata (250 miles from Buenos Aires), which went viral with its live broadcasts on social media.<\/p>\n

\"ResearchResearch vessel Falkor in the Atlantic Ocean, during the expedition.Misha Vallejo Prut (Schmidt Ocean Institute)<\/p>\n

Back then, the star was the now\u2011iconic \u201cbig\u2011butt starfish,\u201d a specimen of Hippasteria phrygiana found on the seafloor. This time, the spotlight went to Stygiomedusa gigantea, commonly known as the giant phantom jellyfish. In the image captured by the scientists, you can see juvenile fish (Centrolophus) swimming around its enormous bell at a depth of 250 meters. According to the team, its bell can reach up to one meter in diameter, and its four arms can grow as long as 10 meters. It does not have stinging tentacles, but uses its arms to trap prey such as plankton and small fish.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t expect to see this level of biodiversity in the deep waters off Argentina, and we\u2019re thrilled to find them so full of life,\u201d said Mar\u00eda Emilia Bravo, the scientist leading the expedition. \u201cIt was incredible to witness all the biodiversity, the ecosystem functions, and the connectivity unfolding together. We opened a window into our country\u2019s marine life<\/a>, only to discover that there is still so much more left to find,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe expedition’s chief scientist, Mar\u00eda Emilia Bravo, in the control room of the Falkor vesselMisha Vallejo Prut (Schmidt Ocean Institute)<\/p>\n

Covering roughly 0.15 square miles \u2014 about the size of Vatican City \u2014 the Bathelia reef documented by the expedition\u2019s scientists is a cold\u2011water stony coral habitat that shelters other organisms such as fish, crustaceans, and octopuses. Recognized as an indicator species of a Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem (VME), Bathelia candida has been recorded throughout the southwestern Atlantic, with the largest concentrations off the coast of Argentina. Until now, however, scientists hadn\u2019t understood its full extent; during this expedition they found reefs even farther south than its previously known range.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith each expedition to the deep sea, we discover that the ocean is teeming with life, as much as the land and perhaps even more so, since it contains 98% of this planet\u2019s living space,\u201d said Jyotika Virmani, executive director of the Schmidt Ocean Institute<\/a>. \u201cWe have had the privilege of working with leading scientists on three expeditions in Argentine waters and look forward to seeing their research continue to advance, generating new knowledge and inspiration.\u201d <\/p>\n

The team also observed trash in some areas, including fishing nets, bags, and a VHS tape in perfect condition thanks to the durability of plastics<\/a>. The label on the tape is in Korean, but the team does not know how it reached Argentine waters or how old it is.<\/p>\n

Sign up for our weekly newsletter<\/a> to get more English-language news coverage from EL PA\u00cdS USA Edition <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Argentina\u2019s deep sea holds more biodiversity than scientists previously thought. An expedition that traveled from the north of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301246,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[9877,19866,12806,85,46,19867,141,386],"class_list":["post-301245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-argentina","tag-buenos-aires","tag-fauna","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-mar-del-plata","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}