This Creature Didn't Eat for 5 Years and Was Fine

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]Scientists kept a giant isopod in captivity for 5 years. It refused to eat, then it died.

[00:00:06]Still full from its last meal. This is a giant isopod. It lives 600 m down in complete darkness. It's the size of a football. It's basically an enormous deep sea woodlouse.

[00:00:18]When it finds food, usually a dead whale, it gorges so hard its stomach can't fully close.

[00:00:24]Then it fasts for years. Metabolism so slow it barely qualifies as alive. It can survive total pressure changes, roll into a perfect defensive ball, live over a century. Its eyes cover most of its head and detect almost zero light.

[00:00:40]It shouldn't exist this large.

[00:00:43]The deep sea shrinks most things, but isopods got massive instead. Giant deep sea isopod, the ocean's most patient predator.