{"id":42074,"date":"2024-09-20T20:36:03","date_gmt":"2024-09-20T18:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/553e92fb-3741-4152-858e-326cd286a69a"},"modified":"2024-09-20T21:27:31","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T19:27:31","slug":"the-flying-spaghetti-monster-does-exist-scientists-bump-into-it-on-a-deep-sea-voyage-to-underwater-mountains","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/the-flying-spaghetti-monster-does-exist-scientists-bump-into-it-on-a-deep-sea-voyage-to-underwater-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"The ‘flying spaghetti monster’ does exist. Scientists bump into it on a deep-sea voyage to underwater mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"

Researchers stumbled upon the otherworldly colony of organisms on their way to an explored seamount off the coast of Chile. <\/p>

By Melissa Hobson\n <\/p>

Published: Friday, 20 September 2024 at 18:36 PM<\/p>

\n\n

Researchers on the\u00a0Schmidt Ocean Institute<\/a>\u2019s Nazca High Seas expedition were on their way to dive along an unexplored \u2013 and as yet unnamed \u2013 seamount when their ROV saw a strange creature, sometimes called the ‘flying spaghetti monster’, 665 metres below the surface.<\/strong><\/p>

The flying spaghetti monster is known to scientists as Bathyphysa siphonophore. Credit: Schmidt Ocean<\/figcaption><\/figure>

\u201cBathyphysa siphonophore<\/em>\u00a0is a carnivorous colonial organism that lives in the bathypelagic zone of the ocean, between 1,000 and 3,000 metres,\u201d says\u00a0Schmidt Ocean Institute.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cA medusoid and polyp-like zooids combine to form the animal\u2019s body, which can be several metres long with tentacles.\u201d<\/p>

Watch the flying spaghetti monster drift through the deep ocean. Credit: Schmidt Ocean<\/figcaption><\/figure>