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11 The Hycean is one of the strangest creatures in Subnautica 2: a huge, passive predator that flies. It drifts above the ocean surface on a mantle full of hydrogen, dips low over the water, and in the current Early Access build it cannot hurt a diver at all, despite databank warnings to stay out from under one. Divers have even stood on a partially submerged Hycean and been lifted gently out of the water.
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33 Overview
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55 AttributeDetailClassAirborne gasbag predatorDispositionPassive toward diversReported habitatAbove the surface over the Shallows, Coral Gardens, and the Necrolei HillsThreatNone in the current build
66 Databank Notes
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88 The entry, generated under the name Hycean hycean, explains the flight. The Hycean descends from the same squid-like ancestor as the Houndgar, but its mantle holds buoyant hydrogen produced by bacterial symbiotes that split seawater using sunlight. Free of most predators, it drifts above the waves and snags prey from the water with its arms, suffocating larger catches by holding them in the air until their gills dry out. The gas comes with a cost: any spark could ignite the bag, and Hyceans shelter in the water during thunderstorms.
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1010 The entry closes on a speculative note, wondering whether a species that lives with its eyes above the water might be unusually intelligent, and asks observers to watch for deliberate behavior such as fertilizing patches of ocean with its waste. Separately, the BFJ databank entry hints that the anchored jelly may be an earlier life stage of an airborne organism; the game never names the Hycean outright, but the community reads the two entries together.
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1212 Notes
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1414 Before the Adaptive Measures update it was possible to climb on top of a Hycean using an Air Bladder; since Early Access 1.1 the reliable method is waiting for one to dip into the water. See Updates and Patch Notes for the current patch state.
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1616 Related Pages
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1818 CreaturesBFJLeviathan-Class Organisms