Holy Squid Batman!
by Fazia Rizvi
28 September 2005, 3:36 PM
Via National Geographic: Holy
Squid! Photos Offer First Glimpse of Live Deep-Sea Giant But this isn't science fiction. A set of extraordinary images captured by
Japanese scientists marks the first-ever record of a live giant squid
(Architeuthis) in the wild. The animal
which measures roughly 25 feet (8 meters) long
was photographed 2,950 feet (900 meters) beneath the North Pacific Ocean.
Japanese scientists attracted the squid toward cameras attached to a
baited fishing line. The scientists say they snapped more than 500 images of the massive
cephalopod before it broke free after snagging itself on a hook. They also
recovered one of the giant squid's two longest tentacles, which severed
during its struggle. The photo sequence, taken off Japan's Ogasawara Islands in September 2004,
shows the squid homing in on the baited line and enveloping it in "a ball
of tentacles."
I'm fascinated with the
giant squid, motsly because it's still such a mystery to us and
mysteries that large are sort of rare nowadays. To thnk that this is
the first time we've ever seen this giant creature, alive in it's
native habitat is awe inspiring. To me anyway. To know that ther is one even bigger, the colossal squid
Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, (which can grow up to 65 feet!) that we have
yet to see alive just gives me goosebumps. Some related nifty stuff:
Like something straight out of a Jules Verne novel, an enormous tentacled
creature looms out of the inky blackness of the deep Pacific waters.