Rare Nautilus Spotted for the First Time in Three Decades Deep Beneath the Sea

A rare nautilus may not be extinct after all. Scientists have spotted one of the world's rarest animals, a nautilus, in Papua New Guinea.

"Before this, two humans had seen Allonautilus scrobiculatus," said Peter Ward, one of the researchers, in a news release. "My colleague Bruce Saunders from Bryn Mawr College found Allonautilus scrobiculatus and I saw them a few weeks later."

These sightings occurred in 1984. Since then, though, it's largely remained unseen. In July 2015, Ward returned to Papua New Guinea to survey nautilus populations. He set up bait on a stick systems each evening, and filmed the activity around the bait for 12 hours.

In the end, the researchers attracted several nautiluses, which they then captured, at depths of about 600 feet. Since most nautiluses do not like heat, the researchers brought them to the surface in chilled water to obtain small tissue, shell and mucous samples and measure the dimensions of each animal.

"They swim just above the bottom of wherever they are," said Ward. "Just like submarines, they have 'fail depths' where they'll die if they go too deep, and surface waters are so warm that they usually can't go up there. Water about 2,600 feet deep is going to isolate them."

These restrictions mean that nautiluses are limited to certain areas. Not only that but once they're gone from an area, they're gone for good. Illegal fishing for nautilus shells means that some populations have been completely destroyed.

The findings reveal a bit more about this elusive creature. More specifically, it shows the importance of instituting conservation efforts.

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