The eight inch-long blue creatures - Todarodes pacificus in Latin - are able to 'fly' through the air after leaping to avoid predatorsThese remarkable photos show one of the most bizarre sights in the natural world.
A British photographer captured a particular type of squid which use jet propulsion to leap out of the sea and fly up to 65ft.
The flying squid swim in shoals and leap from the surface of the water and are often mistaken for the more common flying fish.
The squid actually fly looking backwards, with their tentacles dangling behind them and fins acting like wings, keeping them balanced in the air.
The squid was spotted off the coast of Japan'These were taken about 1,000 kilometres off the Bonin Islands in the north Pacific, just in Japanese waters.
'There was a group of about 20 flying squid and they sensed danger from the bow wave of the boat and their defence mechanism is to leap out of the water.'
He added: 'However, there is a bird called the red-footed booby - which is like a gannet - that waits for them to leap from the water and then picks them off in the air.
'They have a lot of predators and are an important source of food in Japan. They are prolific reproduces and only live for about a year.
Four of the squid are seen hopping above the wavessource :dailymail
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