A 2026 study published by Environmental DNA<\/a> has revealed new findings in deep underwater canyons near the Ningaloo coast, about 750 miles from Perth, including a giant squid.<\/p>\n \u201cFinding evidence of a giant squid really captures people’s imagination, but it’s just one part of a much bigger picture,\u201d the study’s lead author, Dr. Georgia Nester, told WAtoday<\/a> in an interview published Wednesday, May 6.<\/p>\n The giant hydroid Branchiocerianthus detected in the Cape Range and Cloates submarine canyons in Western Australia. Researchers surveyed the Cape Range and Cloates Canyons in the East Indian Ocean using environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding, remotely operated vehicle imageryand specimen collection.\u00a0The study \u2014 said to be the first extensive eDNA survey of the area \u2014 analyzed 178 water samples collected across five depths, going as deep as 4,540 meters.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n They also found the pygmy sperm whale and Cuvier’s beaked whale, both of which are deep-diving mammals.<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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,\u201d Nester said, per WAtoday.<\/p>\n She added the canyons have been \u201clargely unexplored because of the difficulty of working at such extreme depths.\u201d But with eDNA, \u201ca single water sample can tell us about hundreds of species at once.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/23170b300a6853449100da3ad3211728.jpeg\"\/)
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Credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute<\/p>\n