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On 21 October 2018, the Australian Antarctic Division reported the discovery of a sea cucumber species that had (prior to their sighting) only been seen in the Gulf of Mexico. Using new underwater camera technology, researchers were able to capture the eerie creature’s movements in the chilly Southern Ocean: Researchers had set up this new deep-sea camera technology as part of an initiative from Australia's Department of the Environment and Energy aimed at monitoring commercial fisheries. Speaking to Australia’s ABC News, Antarctic Division Program Leader Dirk Welsford said that We've got hours and hours of footage of not much really, and then one of our technicians was sitting there watching this footage and the chicken monster floated past. It was a mesmerizing image: Sea cucumbers such as Enypniastes eximia are echinoderms, a phylum of invertebrate animals that includes starfish and sea urchins. They feed on tiny particles such as algae, zooplankton, or waste material and play an important role in recycling nutrients in the marine ecosystem. The headless chicken monster is unique amongst sea cucumbers, the New York Times reported, because it has fins and can swim upward. It looks a bit like a chicken just before you put it in [an] oven, Welsford told the Times.
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