During a recent exploration of the waters near the Channel Islands, the crew of the E/V Nautilus encountered a truly mysterious purple orb just floating amidst some rocks.
They were immediately intrigued, but had a little competition from another interested party. As a submersible approached the mystery orb, a crab cut it off, rushing in and poking at the purple blob with one of its legs.
While the team debated on the best means of collecting the specimen, the crustacean apparently satisfied its curiosity and moved along. The submersible quickly headed in and collected the creature for further study.
Though the team remained stumped as to the purple sphere’s identity, there is a possibility it could be a new species of nudibranch.
