wait..what?? when I was growing up, giant squid were merely fiction. http://today.reuters.com/news/artic...KOC_0_US-SQUID-GIANT-JAPAN.xml&src=rss&rpc=22 Giant squid caught on video by Japanese scientists Fri Dec 22, 2006 3:40am ET TOKYO (Reuters) - Its mass of reddish tentacles flailing, a giant squid fought a losing battle to evade capture in a video unveiled by Japanese scientists on Friday. Images of the squid -- a relatively small female about 3.5 meters (11 ft 6 in) long and weighing 50 kg (110 lb) -- were the ultimate prize for zoologists at the National Science Museum, who have been pursuing one of the ocean's most mysterious creatures for years. "Nobody has ever seen a live giant squid except fishermen," team leader Tsunemi Kubodera of the museum's zoology department said in an interview on Friday. "We believe these are the first ever moving pictures of a giant squid." Little was known until recently about the creature thought to have inspired the myth of the "kraken", a tentacled monster that was blamed by sailors for sinking ships off Norway in the 18th century. The top news, photos, and videos of 2006. Full Coverage Unconfirmed reports say giant squid can grow up to 20 meters long, but according to scientists they are unlikely to pose a threat to ships because they spend their lives hundreds of meters under the sea. The Japanese research team tracked giant squid by following their biggest predators -- sperm whales -- as they gathered to feed near the Ogasawara islands, 1,000 km (620 miles) south of Tokyo between September and December. They succeeded in taking the first still photographs of a living giant squid in 2005, observing that it moved around in the water more actively than previously thought, and captured food by entangling prey in its powerful tentacles. The latest specimen, whose formalin-preserved carcass was displayed at a news conference at the museum in Tokyo, was caught on a baited hook laid 650 meters (2,150 ft) under the sea off the Ogasawara islands, on December 4, the scientists said. A squid about 55 cm (21.65 inches) in length had been attracted by the bait and the giant squid was hooked when it tried to eat the smaller squid, the scientists said. Video is here http://today.reuters.com/tv/videoCh...4daf2c9503387b6a614482bc1d5d8a4ae79972&rpc=23
It's very, very cool that they finally got one on video, even if it is a smaller one. Max, there's been virtually nothing but anecdotal evidence of these guys in the past...old pictures & accounts of carcasses washed up on beaches; they've done a lot of the extrapolation on how big these things get from examining the wounds their suckers leave on sperm whales (a 10 inch squid has suckers this big...marks the size of a saucer = "holy crap that's a big squid"). Til this, the biggest squid seen live by humans are the Humboldt squid off the coast of Cali & Mexico. They're only a few feet long though.
Yeah, Buck. Isn't that awesome? What we don't even know about our own world. Very cool. Have a great holiday season!! Let's try to get together soon for wings/beer and Rockets games!!!
You too, man. I'm up in Austin & surrounding areas until the 1st. I've been quite negligent in my sportsbar attendance recently. We need to change this.
you're invited! how a thread about giant squid so quickly turned into a thread about hanging out with beer, wings and rockets, i don't know. calamari for everyone! new kicks????
yeah, i do that! i tried to get you to hang out with me while visiting in-laws in Arkansas, too!!! Merry Christmas!!! GO SQUID!
seriously??? was up there this summer for a course in mediation...stayed with my in-laws....i think you were out of town, though. i'll let you know next time i head that way, though. my wife's family lives in maumelle.
Cool. I live in Jonesboro, which is about 2 hrs. from Maumelle but my sister and her husband live there and the company I work for has a clinic down in L.R. which isn't far from Maumelle either so I am down there quite often.
yeah, i remember you lived farily far away. i was so impressed with the development of LR's downtown last time I was there. the conference I attended was at the convetion center...near the outdoor market. saw lots of great places i'd like to go with my wife and/or friends...including a crab place with big TV's for sports! i'll let you know next time i head that way. would be great to catch a Rockets game together.
you rock!! you better wear those shoes every freaking day!!! they make some Astros shoes, but they look a little soft. thinking about a birthday party at MMP for Jacob in February..how cool is that??
Where are the Astros shoes? The birthday party is a great idea...if I'm invited. Oh, and I **** you not, here in Phoenix we had that Millionaire show on and the answer to the last question was giant squid.
