Posted on 12/22/2006 5:50:07 PM PST by jimtorr
December 22, 2006—Like pulling a shadow from the darkness, researchers in Japan have captured and filmed a live giant squid—likely for the first time—shedding new light on the famously elusive creatures.
Tsunemi Kubodera, a scientist with Japan's National Science Museum, caught the 24-foot (7-meter) animal earlier this month near the island of Chichijima, some 600 miles (960 kilometers) southeast of Tokyo (see Japan map).
His team snared the animal using a line baited with small squid and shot video of the russet-colored giant as it was hauled to the surface.
The squid, a young female, "put up quite a fight" as the team attempted to bring it aboard, Kudobera told the Associated Press, and the animal died from injuries sustained during the capture.
Giant squid, the world's largest invertebrates, are thought to reach sizes up to 60 feet (18 meters), but because they live at such great ocean depths they have never been studied in the wild.
Kubodera has spent three years searching for the creatures, and his team scored a coup in 2004 when it used a remote underwater camera to take the first-ever photographs of a live giant squid.
(See a gallery of the first photos taken of a live giant squid.)
The capture may be a sign that giant squid are more plentiful than had been thought, Kubodera said, and the event could help open up more fruitful research into the poorly understood animal.
"Now that we know where to find them, we think we can be more successful at studying them in the future," he said.
"It didn't sound as though they caught it to eat but to look at." Damn, doofus, didya ever hear of 'RESEARCH'?
Paging Kirk Douglas!
You aint kidding...
So does San Francisco
IIRC, there are a number of reports of men being snatched off of life boats during WWII.
Mark
I understand that sentiment. However this isn't Bambi we're discussing and it's not something to trifle with, either. This critter is not only a meat eating predator, it routinely battles one of the biggest of the toothed whales (Sperm) and I'm certain it wins at least some of the time. The novels of Peter Benchley notwithstanding, there have been reports from various parts of the world of these critters attacking men. Unsubstantiated? Maybe. But it behooves us as the top of the food chain, to keep an EYE on the up and comers. If this were wholesale slaughter, I'd have to agree with you. But I kinda doubt killing one of these or heck a dozen is going to put a crimp in the population.
For hundreds of years, this was largely a mythical creature. Sea stories and wild tales passed down thru the ages until it became the stuff of Jules Verne stories. Like BigFoot, this was one that was only going to be settled with a body. A dead body. By all accounts this was a small example of the species. Had this been one of the BIG BOYS of legend, it's possible the encounter between man and beast could have gone the other way. I kinda doubt this was like shooting fish in a barrel. So don't feel too bad.
According to the article on Fox News, this is the same team.
I'd rather be eaten by sharks. Can you imagine? Makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up!
Actually, from what I've heard, being bitten by a shark is actually relatively painless. All you really feel is the pressure of its jaws squeezing. The teeth severing goes unfelt.
alas...
Japanese scientists herald live giant squid footage
Terradaily | Dec 22, 2006
Posted on 12/22/2006 10:16:30 AM EST by pajama pundit
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1757301/posts
I actually have heard of species of squid that are very aggressive and will attack (and maybe kill) humans should those humans fall into the water with them.
However, the name of the squid fails me at the moment.
In any event, it is different from architeuthus (the giant squid).
This is interesting, but what are they going to do with calamari rings the size of SUV tires?
Be like deep-fried hula hoops!
Thanks. This old memory isn't what it should be, but when I saw the name of the island I remembered GHWBush talking about what was happening there.
If it's already consumed the body and only has the head to go it's just the opposite of scarry!
"I'm given to understand that the flesh of the Giant Squid reeks of ammonia.'
They may very well. I've fished for about 37 years on the outer banks of North Carolina, and one of the most prolific and tasty fish along the coast is the Croaker. I have caught many of them with red flesh in places that has a heavy iodine taste. I much prefer them without the medication.
"This is interesting, but what are they going to do with calamari rings the size of SUV tires?"
That's a no brainer. You would feed them to someone whose mouth was big enough to eat them. Like
Rosie O'Donnell
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.