Scientists have uncovered evidence of giant squid and hundreds of other species in deep submarine canyons off Western Australia. The findings come from an expedition that used environmental DNA analysis to explore depths exceeding 4 kilometers.
Researchers from Curtin University led the study aboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel R/V Falkor. They collected more than 1,000 water samples from the Cape Range and Cloates canyons, about 1,200 kilometers north of Perth near the Nyinggulu coast. The analysis identified 226 species across 11 animal groups, including several never before recorded in Western Australian waters.