Social Anxiety Forums

Anonymous · Posted: Sat December 23, 2006 Post subject: Giant Squid! On Film!

The report says that this is possibly the first ever, I looked it up and it is....

Researchers film live giant squid

TOKYO - A Japanese research team has succeeded in filming a giant squid live — possibly marking a first — 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 (7 meters), 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."

Giant squid, formally called Architeuthis, are the world's largest invertebrates. Because they live in the depths of the ocean, they have 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.

The squid, a female, was not fully grown and was relatively small by giant squid standards. The longest one on record is 60 feet (18 meters), 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 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."

Josh · Posted: Sat December 23, 2006 Post subject:

Any pics or vids? I'd like to see a 7 meter long squid.

Anonymous · Posted: Sat December 23, 2006 Post subject:

Funny how there are no supplied pictures Razz

Anonymous · Posted: Sun December 24, 2006 Post subject:

Im looking for some as I type this.

Edit: Ok I got one. Click http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?f=00&g=a8024610-2ed7-49a6-8eb4-c9de2e7b838e&p=hotvideo_m_edpicks&t=m5&rf=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16322895/&fg=

Hobo · Posted: Sun December 24, 2006 Post subject:

They got it on video and then they killed it while trying to capture it. Too bad it wasn't one of the giant squids from old legends, that supposedly attacked ships and dragged people into the water to their deaths.

Anonymous · Posted: Sun December 24, 2006 Post subject:

These squids can have tentacles up to 50 or more feet long. Don't tell me that isn't really big.

d_styles · Posted: Sun December 24, 2006 Post subject:

its kinda of stupid that they killed it though since there probably isn't a lot of them in existance.

Anonymous · Posted: Sun December 24, 2006 Post subject:

Anonymous · Posted: Thu December 28, 2006 Post subject:

I second that...

But thats cool Razz

Anonymous · Posted: Thu December 28, 2006 Post subject:

Hobo · Posted: Thu December 28, 2006 Post subject:

Anonymous · Posted: Thu December 28, 2006 Post subject:

I hope we find the city of R'lyeh and awaken Cthulhu.

Anonymous · Posted: Thu December 28, 2006 Post subject:

Anonymous · Posted: Thu December 28, 2006 Post subject:

d_styles · Posted: Thu December 28, 2006 Post subject:

it's crazy how we can reach such far away places as the moon and mars, but still have trouble going a few kilometers under water..