On the cool sand of the beach near the mouth of the River Ethen in Newburgh (Aberdeenshire), vacationers found something resembling remnants of an alien being. Huge tentacles about 50 cm long, gelatinous tissue, and a lack of an obvious body—the discovery looked more like a horror movie plot than a real marine animal. As it later turned out, this was one of the most mysterious and rarely encountered inhabitants of the ocean depths—the giant gelatinous octopus, Haliphron atlanticus, also known as the “seven-armed octopus” or septopus.
Deep-Sea Phantom
Haliphron atlanticus is a species that spends the majority of its life in the ocean’s “twilight zone,” at depths between 500 and 1000 meters, where sunlight scarcely penetrates. Its appearance off the coast of Scotland is an event of exceptional rarity. “This is an incredible find,” comments marine biologist Dr. Lauren Smith from Saltwater Life. “How exactly this deep-sea creature ended up in the shallows remains a puzzle.”
Initially, researchers suggested the remains might belong to a giant squid (Architeuthis dux), an encounter with which had already been recorded off the Aberdeenshire coast in 1998. However, the absence of the characteristic serrated suckers typical of squids refuted this theory. Identification took several days and required consultations with experts from California, New Zealand, and the Natural History Museum in London. Ultimately, the scientific community unanimously recognized the mysterious creature as a septopus.
Why “Seven-Legged”?
Despite the nickname “seven-armed,” this octopus, like all its relatives, possesses eight tentacles. The solution lies in an anatomical feature of the males: one tentacle is modified into a hectocotylus—an organ for transferring sperm. While swimming, the male keeps it coiled in a special sac under its eye, so only seven “arms” are externally visible. “Probably, the initial researchers who discovered this species saw precisely such a specimen, and the name stuck,” explains Dr. Smith.
The size of the discovered octopus suggests it was likely a female. Haliphron atlanticus males rarely exceed 20 cm, while females can reach 4 meters in length. The discovered 50 cm tentacles are only fragments, indicating a possible predator attack. One possibility is that the octopus was attacked by a whale or a large shark. It is also conceivable that the animal fell victim to a fishing trawl or ended up in the shallows due to disorientation.
Scientific Value of the Discovery
For science, such a find is a real gift. Deep-sea species rarely fall into researchers’ hands in relatively intact condition. The octopus remains were frozen and distributed among several scientific institutions: the University of Aberdeen, the National Museum of Scotland, the Natural History Museum of London, and the TRACE wildlife forensics network. This will allow for detailed genetic, morphological, and toxicological analyses.
“The appearance of such a deep-water species near our shores is a unique chance to learn more about the ecology of the ocean depths,” says Dr. Steve O’Shea, a cephalopod expert. “Perhaps this is a consequence of changes in currents or the migration of the food base.”
Twilight Zone Dweller
Haliphron atlanticus leads a secretive existence. Its gelatinous body helps it maintain buoyancy at great depths, where pressure is tens of times greater than at the surface. It presumably feeds on jellyfish and other gelatinous organisms, as well as small crustaceans. Despite its size, this octopus is a master of camouflage and avoids encounters with large predators.
In the world ocean, Haliphron atlanticus is found from the Azores to the coast of New Zealand, but documented cases of it washing ashore can be counted on one’s fingers. For the northeastern coast of Scotland, this is possibly the first such record.
The discovery on Newburgh beach reminds us how little we know about the ocean depths. Creatures that seem like aliens from another world live just a few kilometers from our shores, hidden by the water column and darkness. The case of the “seven-armed” octopus is not just a tabloid curiosity, but an important scientific event that may shed light on life in one of the planet’s most enigmatic zones.
As Dr. Smith notes, “This finding is a reminder that the ocean continues to amaze us, and even on the eve of 2026, we are only slightly opening the door to its secrets.” Perhaps thanks to these fragments, now lying in laboratory freezers, we will become one step closer to understanding what is concealed in the eternal twilight of the deep waters.
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