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A giant squid was discovered by researchers in Western Australia
“Finding evidence of a giant squid really captures people’s imagination, but it’s just one part of a much bigger picture,” the study’s lead author, Dr. Georgia Nester, said
There were two other records of the giant squid in Western Australia over 25 years ago
A giant squid was discovered by researchers in Western Australia.
A 2026 study published by Environmental DNA has revealed new findings in deep underwater canyons near the Ningaloo coast, about 750 miles from Perth, including a giant squid.
“Finding evidence of a giant squid really captures people’s imagination, but it’s just one part of a much bigger picture,” the study’s lead author, Dr. Georgia Nester, told WAtoday in an interview published Wednesday, May 6.
The giant hydroid Branchiocerianthus detected in the Cape Range and Cloates submarine canyons in Western Australia.
Credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute
Researchers surveyed the Cape Range and Cloates Canyons in the East Indian Ocean using environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding, remotely operated vehicle imageryand specimen collection. The study — said to be the first extensive eDNA survey of the area — analyzed 178 water samples collected across five depths, going as deep as 4,540 meters.
Scientists found evidence of 226 species across 126 families in the canyons. The findings yielded 83 believed new records or range extensions, including a range extension for the sleeper shark and the giant squid. The faceless cusk eel was also detected in Western Australia for the first time.
They also found the pygmy sperm whale and Cuvier’s beaked whale, both of which are deep-diving mammals.
“We found a large number of species that don’t neatly match anything currently recorded, which doesn’t automatically mean they’re new to science, but it strongly suggests there is a vast amount of deep-sea biodiversity we’re only just beginning to uncover,” Nester said, per WAtoday.
She added the canyons have been “largely unexplored because of the difficulty of working at such extreme depths.” But with eDNA, “a single water sample can tell us about hundreds of species at once.”
According to the Smithsonian Ocean, the largest giant squid ever detected was about 43 feet long. The elusive creature was filmed in its natural habitat for the first time in 2012 after first being recorded live in 2006.
Giant squid are believed to swim in the ocean worldwide, but are rarely found in tropical and polar areas. They have been spotted in New Zealand, Pacific islands and the east and west sides of the Northern Atlantic, as well as the southern coast of Africa.
Before the 2026 discovery, there were only two other records of the giant squid in Western Australia, WA Museum’s Dr. Lisa Kirkendale said, per WAtoday. There had not been a sighting or a specimen in the area in over 25 years.
“This is the first record of a giant squid detected off Western Australia’s coast using eDNA protocols and the northernmost record of them in the eastern Indian Ocean,” she said.
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