Giant Squid Caught Live on Video

[Sarah]

Video Link
A Japanese research team has succeeded in filming a giant squid live — possibly for the first time — and says the elusive creatures may be more plentiful than previously believed, a researcher said Friday.

The research team, led by Tsunemi Kubodera, videotaped the giant squid at the surface as they captured it off the Ogasawara Islands south of Tokyo earlier this month. The squid, which measured about 24 feet long, died while it was being caught.

"We believe this is the first time anyone has successfully filmed a giant squid that was alive," said Kubodera, a researcher with Japan's National Science Museum. "Now that we know where to find them, we think we can be more successful at studying them in the future."


The giant squid, Architeuthis dux, is the world's largest invertebrate. Because it lives in the depths of the ocean, it's long been wrapped in mystery and embellished in the folklore of sea monsters, appearing in ancient Greek myths or attacking the submarine in Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."

The captured squid was caught using a smaller type of squid as bait, and was pulled into a research vessel "after putting up quite a fight," Kubodera said.

"It took two people to pull it in, and they lost it once, which might have caused the injuries that killed it," he said.

The squid, a female, was not fully grown and was relatively small by giant squid standards. The longest one on record is 60 feet, he said.

Kubodera and his team had been conducting expeditions in the area for about three years before they succeeded in making their first contact two years ago. Last year, the team succeeded in taking a series of still photos of one of the animals in its natural habitat, also believed to have been a first.

Until the team's successes, most scientific study of the creatures had to rely on partial specimens that had washed ashore dead or dying or had been found in the digestive systems of whales or very large sharks.

Kubodera said whales led his team to the squid. By finding an area where whales fed, he believed he could find the animals. He also said that, judging by the number of whales that feed on them, there may be many more giant squid than previously thought.

"Sperm whales need from 500 to 1,000 kilograms (1,100-2,200 pounds) of food every day," he said. "There are believed to be 200,000 or so of them, and that would suggest there are quite a few squid for them to be feeding on. I don't think they are in danger of extinction at all."

[Zero]

Imagine the calamari rings you could get of that sucker!!
But in all seriousness do we really know what else is out there? More people have been to the moon than the bottom of the ocean to me say we wouldnt have a clue. How many of these things would see a submersible or the like and avoid it like the plague? All of a sudden something with massive lights making a strange sound comes floating by i think the flight part of the fight or flight comes into play and they take off. Big sharks feeding on them? i think theres many bigger than what has been recorded. Average sized great whites have been tagged that swim from South Africa to Australia then back again. No mean feat considering some people never travel that far in there whole life and even thats by plane. Would the bigger ones have a brighter intellect and know to avoid human or mechanical contact? Many questions need to be answered but never will due to funding issues.

Matt

[drdiver]

Zero, that is so true. There is always something new out of the ocean and just about anything is possible. Part of what makes diving such a great activity!