Posted on 09/27/2005 5:24:09 PM PDT by SinisterDexter
LONDON (Reuters) - Japanese scientists have taken the first photographs of one of the most mysterious creatures in the deep ocean -- the giant squid.
Until now the only information about the behavior of the creatures which measure up to 18 meters (59 feet) in length has been based on dead or dying squid washed up on shore or captured in commercial fishing nets.
But Tsunemi Kubodera, of the National Science Museum, and Kyoichi Mori of the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association, both in Tokyo have captured the first images of Architeuthis attacking bait 900 meters (yards) below the surface in the cold, dark waters of the North Pacific.
"We show the first wild images of a giant squid in its natural environment," they said in a report on Wednesday in the journal Proceedings B of the Royal Society.
Little is known about the creatures because it has been so difficult to locate and study them alive. Large ships and specialist equipment, which is costly, are needed to study deep sea environments.
The Japanese scientists found the squid by following sperm whales, the most effective hunters of giant squid, as they gathered to feed between September and December in the deep waters off the coast of the Ogasawara Islands in the North Pacific.
They used a remote long-line camera and depth logging system to capture the giant squid in the ocean depths.
"The most dramatic character of giant squids is the pair of extremely long tentacles, distinct from the eight shorter arms. The long tentacles make up to two-thirds of the length of the dead specimens to date," the scientists said in the journal.
They added that the giant squid appear to be a much more active predator than researchers had suspected and tangled their prey in their elongated feeding tentacles.
Ain't nothin' but one a' them giant sea monkeys...
Ben! How could you do that to me right after supper.....ARGH!
Ikka!!!
Is that Christopher Walken in drag?
I like the ocean, but nothing that's in it.
Bump
Science/biology ping.
This is soooo cool. I love these kind of stories.
Agreed. Giant squids that will eat you and weird deep sea creatures with dangling luminescent lures coming out their heads are a lot more interesting. And space exploration costs way too much.
You would need about 80 dozen eggs and 300 pounds of flour to stuff these the way my grandmother used to make them.
Raw, raw, your boat...
Gently down the sea,
Merrily, merrilee, merrylee, merry lee,
Gently down the sea.
(All together now!)
And those thick tentacles are pure muscle.
Sushi from hell!
I'll have mine wrapped in rice and seaweed, with wasabi/soy sauce dip, and a side of miso soup, please.
Damn. Now I want sushi, but I don't get paid until next week!
Although read this:
How big can a squid get? Estimates based on peices of carcasses found in the belly's of sperm whales range up to one hundred feet. One unconfirmed story, though, suggests they might get even larger. One night during World War II a British Admiralty trawler was lying off the Maldive Islands in the Indian Ocean. One of the crew, A. G. Starkey, was up on deck, alone, fishing, when he saw something in the water:
"As I gazed, fascinated, a circle of green light glowed in my area of illumination. This green unwinking orb I suddenly realized was an eye. The surface of the water undulated with some strange disturbance. Gradually I realized that I was gazing at almost point-black range at a huge squid."
Starkey walked the length the of the ship finding the tail at one end and the tentacles at the other. The ship was over one hundred and seventy five feet long.
The man in the suit looks a little like one of the Fox news guys (can't remember his name). Is this picture from a news spot that went wrong?
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