A rare whalefish sighting with ROV Doc Ricketts

This whalefish (order Cetomimiformes) was spotted by Steve Haddock and his team on their recent R/V Western Flyer expedition 2,013 meters (6,604 feet) deep offshore of Monterey Bay. We’ve only encountered these obscure fish 16 times in 34 years of deep-sea exploration with our remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). Whalefishes lack external scales and pelvic fins, and in adult fish, the eyes are very primitive and small. The eyes’ lenses are lost after they transform from the larval stage, and with it, they lose the ability to form images. But instead of relying on sight to survive, they have an incredible ability to feel their surrounding. They have a highly sensitive lateral line system, with sensory pores that run over the head and down the length of the body to help them feel vibrations in the water around them. Whalefish have rarely been seen alive in the deep, so many mysteries remain regarding these remarkable fish. With each deep-sea dive, we uncover more mysteries and solve others. Learn about th