Why An Awe-Inspiring Viral Deep-Sea Livestream Turned Political

ByLeslie Katz, Senior Contributor. Leslie Katz covers the intersection of culture, science and tech.

Aug 08, 2025, 03:56pm EDTAug 09, 2025, 12:48am EDT



Viewers of a viral livestream tracking an underwater canyon in Argentina are transfixed by the deep-sea sights.
Schmidt Ocean Institute


Argentinians have a surprising new fixation — a livestream of deep-sea creatures spotted during an international expedition to map one of the country’s largest deep-sea canyons.

The viral feed has so far drawn more than 1.6 million views on YouTube per day, with the comments section overflowing with amazement, wonder and a flurry of Argentinian flags, a show of pride in the country’s scientists and biodiversity.

Part of the fascination with the livestream of the Mar del Plata Submarine Canyon in the South Atlantic lies in the otherworldly creatures that float and amble across the screen — a shimmering neon flying squid, glowing lavender marine invertebrates known as comb jellies, a transparent siphonophore curling and swirling through the dark water, a community of pink crustaceans chilling on the sea floor. One rounded starfish — nicknamed “big-butt starfish” on social media — has become an online sensation for its resemblance to Patrick Star from the animated TV series SpongeBob SquarePants.



Social media has subbed this starfish seen during the Talud Continental IV expedition the "big-butt starfish."
Schmidt Ocean Institute

But the real-time feed has also become a rallying point for opponents of Argentine President Javier Milei’s moves to defund science as part of a broader push to slash government spending since taking office in December 2023. Argentina’s scientific community has faced significant job losses and funding cuts as a result of the austerity measures, which protesters have decried as “scienticide.”

“Long live our scientists,” Instagram user Susy Vega wrote in response to a video of expedition discoveries that highlight the richness of underwater life in the Argentine Sea.

Fabian Piedras had stronger words in a translated YouTube comment: “Let’s keep in mind that these 25 scientists on board represent thousands of scientists who toil day after day without cameras across the country. In the field, in laboratories and in classrooms. A lot of underpaid effort, and receiving brutal insults and incredible disregard. Let’s defend education and all the good things we saw and felt in these streams.”