Scientists in Japan Discover a Giant Squid!

Scientists discover a Giant Squid!

Well guys, it is officailly real. Someone actually photographed it. And I'm certain this isn't a fake photo, cause people are frecking out about it.


1 of 2 photos:


The 2nd pic:

What do you guys think?

 

How deep is that? No one has been able to go that deep. Wow... That's awesome, though. I heard before they didn't even see one and they guessed by the scars on sperm whales.

 

Here's the full story from National Geographic:





Holy Squid! Photos Offer First Glimpse of Live Deep-Sea Giant
-James Owen
for National Geographic News

September 27, 2005
Like something straight out of a Jules Verne novel, an enormous tentacled creature looms out of the inky blackness of the deep Pacific waters.

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."

Tsunemi Kubodera of the National Science Museum in Tokyo and Kyoichi Mori of the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association report their observations this week in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

"Architeuthis appears to be a much more active predator than previously suspected, using its elongated feeding tentacles to strike and tangle prey," the researchers write.

They add that the squid was found feeding at depths where no light penetrates even during the day.

Giant Breakthrough

Despite people's fascination with this deep-sea behemoth, the giant squid's life and habits have remained largely a mystery. The little information known has been mostly based on dead and dying specimens that were caught by commercial fishing boats or washed ashore.

The mysterious creature has inspired countless sea monster tales and has been the subject of various scientific expeditions.

Since the mid 1990s there have been a number of research trips in search of giant squid. Cameras attached to deep-diving subs or sperm whales have been used to try to capture the elusive animals on film, but without success.

 

These squids have been around for a long time.. o.O I've heard about them many times before. I hope they don't think they actually found the first one. Maybe the first to get pictures or actual proof.

 

Well, it's the first one photographed in the wild, so it's a pretty big thing.

 

i already knew about this.and im suprised they barely found out.some of the big ssquids get washed up on shore.so this shouldnt be much of a suprise.

 

Yay, actual proof of these things...how'd they get so deep though...man, japanese are smart people....Well....I guess we should find out more of these things?

 

Nice find. There was a lot of controversy on this. I wonder how a giant squid is made... and what is its habitat? Because i remember reading the story of a sailor and his crew got eaten up by a giant squid somewhere close to Canada. lol.

 

Awesome Cin, but kinda creepy I hate deep waters.

 

Wow, my dreams are finally true. <3

Now...now we have proof that the Asians rule everything. =P

 

This is a nice discovery, but I heard about this on the discovery channel like two weeks ago I think. Wait, maybe it wasn't the same story.........Oh well, this is a nice find, Cin. Very interesting.

 

Hm.. i found another pic of the Giant Squid, what do u guys think? Is it real or fake? Its pretty obvious imo lol.

 

I don't know...they said that the way they found it was it got caught on a fish hook, but I doubt it would come out of the water like that. I say that pic ish fake.

 

yeah i think so too, but just how big is it? Is there a rough estimate? Or comparison?

 

They said they estimated about 25 feet long. :/

 

You can tell that pic with the fisherman is fake.xD

I wonder if gaint squid could really drag a whole ship down.....

 

lmao that pick is so fake!!!!!

yea i knew about this months ago......real old news dude......but real interesting nonetheless......btw i had giant squid last night for dinner....tastes good:)

 

If you can't prove it's fake..(shrugs)...Then don't you dare say it's fake.

I think it's real. :D

 

That's not real, look at the pastely colors.

Is there a vid of the giant squid?

 

yea there is but its' more of a frame by frame shot