Diver spots ghostly transparent sea creature in South African waters

Gulf Today Report

Incredible footage shows the moment a diver encounters a ghostly eel-like creature that is almost completely transparent.

Experts are divided over the bizarre sea creature spotted by Amy Wainman, 36, off Simon's Town near Cape Town in South Africa.

In Amy's footage, the creature is seen undulating through the water, its transparent body seemingly devoid of any organs.

The diver said the 'amazing, magical' creature was unlike anything she'd ever seen.

Bradley Stevens, a retired marine science professor, formerly of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, said it seemed to be at the end of its larval stage.

He said, “Its size and location suggest that it is nearing the end of its migration from the mid-oceanic spawning grounds, and will soon become a normal-shaped juvenile eel.”

However, Kevin Kocot, an associate professor at The University of Alabama specialising in invertebrate zoology, believes it's actually a 'very unusual' type of jelly.

He said, “Some baby eels have larvae called leptocephalus larvae that look superficially very similar.

'But if you look closely, they have a head and mouth at one end whereas this animal's mouth is in the middle of the body,” he added.