Stunning 4K Footage of the Most Spectacular Deep Sea Creatures Filmed in 2025

Researchers from California’s Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) have released a year-end video showcasing some of the most remarkable deep-sea wildlife encounters captured in 2025 using the institute’s advanced underwater camera systems.

The footage brings together highlights from months of expeditions into some of the ocean’s deepest and darkest regions, filmed using MBARI’s remotely operated vehicles equipped with ultra high-definition 4K cameras. The video features a wide range of deep-sea life, including sea sponges, octopus squid, and a terrifying shiny loosejaw that looks likes a creature straight out of the Alien film franchise.

“Dive in and explore some of the most stunning ultra high-definition 4K footage MBARI filmed in 2025 with our advanced underwater robots,” the organization writes in a news release. “This year, our team spotted ultra-black fishes, sinuous siphonophores, curious crabs, spectacular sponges, and so many more dazzling denizens of the deep. These fascinating finds underscore the remarkable diversity of life in the largest living space on Earth.

According to MBARI, the animals were documented during surveys conducted more than 3,000 feet below the ocean surface, where sunlight does not reach and conditions are difficult to study. The footage was collected by small autonomous and remotely operated robots designed to navigate extreme depths while recording fine visual detail. Some of the animals shown in the compilation were filmed for the first time, adding to scientific records of deep-sea biodiversity. MBARI says each encounter contributes new information about life in the deep ocean, which remains one of the least explored environments on Earth.

“Each encounter offers important insight about the ocean’s mysterious depths, a new piece of the puzzle as we work to understand our changing ocean,” MBARI writes in a statement. “These fascinating finds shine a light on the remarkable diversity of life in the largest living space on Earth.”

Previously, PetaPixel reported on how MBARI captured a rarely seen seven-arm octopus known as “the blob octopus” on camera 2,300 feet below the surface in remarkable deep-sea footage. It marks only the fourth time the organization has observed this species in nearly four decades of deep-sea exploration.

Image credits: All photos by MBARI.