Crusty Nautilus has not gone extinct.
Last month, marine biologists found a specimen of Allonautilus scrobiculatus off the coast of Ndrova Island in Papua New Guinea. And that the first specimen in 30 years.
The images you are watching are the first digital images of crusty nautilus alive in the wild.
As explained by Smithsonian Magazine:
“Before the crusty nautilus made its reappearance in July, only two humans had ever reported seeing it: Ward and his colleague, Bruce Saunders. But ever since, the animal has eluded searchers and many marine biologists feared that it had gone extinct. Ward returned to where he and Saunders first found the mollusc to see if any had survived being hunted for their shells and ongoing environmental change.”
To snap the rare photographs, Ward and his team set bait to lure the nocturnal scavengers into frame at depths of 500 to 1,300 feet below the surface.
In September, it will be stated if the nautilii will be protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wildlife Fauna and Flora.
This would give the nautilus a chance to thrive.
