Giant Squid Caught on Film

caffeined writes "I think almost every geek's heart must skip a beat when they hear about giant squids (think "Jules Verne"). It appears the two Japanese researchers have managed (for the first time) to get actual footage of a live giant squid in action. It was "only" 26 feet long (a little more than 8m) which is big enough for me." Update: Pictures and no registration required at National Geographic.

I cant wait for the video release

[Anonymous Coward]

This will user in a whole new era of porn
http://www.cdnn.info/news/eco/e050925.html [cdnn.info]

Re:I cant wait for the video release

[einhverfr]

One should note that the above link is perfectly worksafe. And a mighty interesting read too....

Re:I cant wait for the video release

[quigonn]

New? I wouldn't call this [wikipedia.org] new.

How long?

[the-amazing-blob]

How long until we start catching them and getting them in aquariums?

Re:How long?

[mrchaotica]

Aren't giant squids one of those animals that lives so deep that it can't survive without really high pressure (too high for an aquarium)?

Re:How long?

[magarity]

lives so deep that it can't survive without really high pressure
 
Without lungs to collapse is the pressure really an issue? I thought the only thing from a fish's point of view (besides the light level) that changes with pressure was the viscosity.

Re:How long?

[Anonymous Coward]

Without lungs to collapse is the pressure really an issue?

You mean like how humans would do just fine in outer space wearing nothing but a face mask?

No. Pressure is always an issue.

Re:How long?

[Cadallin]

Actually, yes, for awhile. The primary problem is that we have too many moist mucous membranes that will loose fluid. A face mask, covering ones nose and mouth would let one stay alive in space, even without a suit. However, one's eardrums would burst and one's eyes would boil away and probably burst as well. Add pain to the mixture as you think appropriate.

Arguably, one could make a space suit that was simply a skin tight layer + helmet. The problem with that would be that it would have to be *perfectly* skin tight. I.e. Any gas between the suit and you, and you will be VERY uncomfortable, as the gas makes the suit expand like a balloon. Assuming that was worked out, it would have of number advantages over conventional space suits. The joints would be MUCH more flexible, and less complex, as they wouldn't require complicated pressure equalization systems to allow the joints to move.

Hey, I just thought out how to get around the skintight issue. Cover the human in vaseline, or some other viscous nonvolatile (which means the vaseline wouldn't work very long, depending how much was evaporating through the suit) fluid, to fill in all the empty spaces left by the suit!

So you get a system that is = person + skin tight body suit + nonvolatile fluid + bubble helmet + Air supply. I'm certain it would work, just not sure for how long. The limiting factor is how fast you lose volatiles, but it could easily be made to work as long as the longest spacewalks the US has ever attempted, and would be a hell of a lot lighter, simpler, and cheaper.

Re:How long?

[ScarKnee]

"So you get a system that is = person + skin tight body suit + nonvolatile fluid + bubble helmet + Air supply "

I guess if you got a couple of Slashdotters to try it out in space you'd have two less lonely people in the world.

I dunno, it's entirely possible that Air Supply already has quite a bit of experience with vasoline, skin-tight body suits, etc... maybe they could go up and try it out.

Re:How long?

[10Ghz]

Cover the human in vaseline

I find your ideas intriguing, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter....

Re:How long?

[Anonymous Coward]

What if you fart?

Re:How long?

[king-manic]

Actually, yes, for awhile. The primary problem is that we have too many moist mucous membranes that will loose fluid. A face mask, covering ones nose and mouth would let one stay alive in space, even without a suit. However, one's eardrums would burst and one's eyes would boil away and probably burst as well. Add pain to the mixture as you think appropriate.

Arguably, one could make a space suit that was simply a skin tight layer + helmet. The problem with that would be that it would have to be *perfectly* skin tight. I.e. Any gas between the suit and you, and you will be VERY uncomfortable, as the gas makes the suit expand like a balloon. Assuming that was worked out, it would have of number advantages over conventional space suits. The joints would be MUCH more flexible, and less complex, as they wouldn't require complicated pressure equalization systems to allow the joints to move.

Hey, I just thought out how to get around the skintight issue. Cover the human in vaseline, or some other viscous nonvolatile (which means the vaseline wouldn't work very long, depending how much was evaporating through the suit) fluid, to fill in all the empty spaces left by the suit!

So you get a system that is = person + skin tight body suit + nonvolatile fluid + bubble helmet + Air supply. I'm certain it would work, just not sure for how long. The limiting factor is how fast you lose volatiles, but it could easily be made to work as long as the longest spacewalks the US has ever attempted, and would be a hell of a lot lighter, simpler, and cheaper.


The fact that the average temperature of all space is 4' kelvin is also an issue. although it's vastly warmer near leo it's still cold enough to have the person get serious frost bite after 0.01 seconds and the limbs would start freezing soon after. This would be the dark side, the light side woudl experience the same or much warmer temperatures depending on the color of your suit.

Also, radiation is an issue.

Add to this fact that it's not so much space making you explode it's the air in your lungs pushing out and nothing pushing in. This makes breathing very very hard. You would have to have the air mask at enough pressure to inflate the lungs, but not too much to have them tear the lungs as nothign outside is pushing back.

So what you actually need is:

person + skin tight body suit + nonvolatile fluid + bubble helmet + Air supply + radiation shielding + rigid structure to allow bretahing + isulation and heating

basically a space suit.

Re:How long?

[AaronLawrence]

But how can you freeze so suddenly if the only heat loss is by radiation? (Very slow).

Re:How long?

[fredrik70]

very true, might get nasty though if you decide to hold on to that handle in the shadow on the space station

Re:How long?

[Nicolas MONNET]

"The fact that the average temperature of all space is 4' kelvin is also an issue. "

Nope. In the void there is no convection -- and that's how you lose most heat. In space you only lose it through thermal radiation.

you wont get cold... silly, just hot.

[cheekyboy]

In cold space, there is barely any molocules to STEAL the heat from you.

So how are you going to get cold? you wont.

You actually will get HOTTER, because of the HEAT from the sun. You need to cool down, something to
take the heat (kinetic energy) away, and there isnt enough medium to do that. Thats why in cold antarctica you
get cold, because there is a LOT OF AIR that steals your heat. In space, what little atoms there are, - are not enough
to take the heat out. We have had this posting before, a human can survive in space because their skin is strong enough
to keep the inside preasure (just dont have cuts on you). Your eyeballs wont blow up though they
might dry up real real fast - so goggles will be usefull. Dont open your mouth either.

The bright side of you wont heat up that fast, it would be the same as you being on the beach or high altitude skiing. There is a maximum level of heat energy per second delivered, its not like your are at mercuries distance. As I said before , you will
get hot because you wont loose heat thats why you get HOT. Even if you rotate slowly to even out exposure. So ironically, space may be -270c, but you will get damn hot because of the suns photons, so you need to cool yourself somehow using liquid nitro or something. Sure if you stayed in the dark you would slowly cool down, but not over 5minutes.

I mean people dont blow up on mount everest do they, and thats pretty damn low PSI. Your inside PSI isnt that high either, not strong enough to burst you.

Re:How long?

[JaredOfEuropa]

Add to this fact that it's not so much space making you explode it's the air in your lungs pushing out and nothing pushing in. This makes breathing very very hard. You would have to have the air mask at enough pressure to inflate the lungs, but not too much to have them tear the lungs as nothign outside is pushing back.

A modified regulator would take care of the pressure nicely, so that the lungs will fill but not explode. The problem I see is that at such a low pressure, there might not be enough oxygen

Re:How long?

[CommieLib]

And having the suit change colors in respond to temperature (hot-white, cold, black) would help ameliorate the temperature problem.

Re:How long?

[Floody]

Actually, yes, for awhile. The primary problem is that we have too many moist mucous membranes that will loose fluid. A face mask, covering ones nose and mouth would let one stay alive in space, even without a suit. However, one's eardrums would burst and one's eyes would boil away and probably burst as well. Add pain to the mixture as you think appropriate.

That's not the primary problem. The primary problem is that the human brain needs a minimum level of oxygen to operate; that oxygen can only be provided by the respitory system at a rate directly proportional to the o2 pressure in the respirated environment(or "partial pressure" in mixed gas environments, like earth at sealevel). If you decrease pressure, you must likewise increase o2 or risk cognitive failure and rapid blackout (with little-to-no warning either). Now, as with all biology, individuals differ widely, but .... even in a pure o2 environment (which certainly is already required for EVA), anything below about 3psi is dangerous. Lungs are a nice flexible organ, but they aren't capable of withstanding more than a very slight pressure differential without over-expansion and potential embolism occuring.

That means that any environmental suit must maintain the same approximate force upon the wearer as exerted by the wearer's respiration gas pressure. Likewise, in order to prevent circulatory damage, the force needs to be exerted pretty evenly across the entire body. So, in effect, you're talking about a suit that can "squeeze" the wearer evenly at a minimum of three or so lbs/sq inch. Assuming such could be designed, how do you propose one would don such an outfit in a pressurised environment? I don't care how great your lubricant of choice is, I can't imagine someone getting into one of these things in the first place without great physical harm occuring.

Re:How long?

[Inominate]

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answer s/970603.html [nasa.gov]
Exposure to vaccuum isn't the catastrophic event hollywood makes it out to be.

Re:How long?

[moonbender]

It doesn't sound like it's fun, though: "At NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center (now renamed Johnson Space Center) we had a test subject accidentally exposed to a near vacuum (less than 1 psi) in an incident involving a leaking space suit in a vacuum chamber back in '65. He remained conscious for about 14 seconds, which is about the time it takes for O2 deprived blood to go from the lungs to the brain. The suit probably did not reach a hard vacuum, and we began repressurizing the chamber within 15 seconds. The subject regained consciousness at around 15,000 feet equivalent altitude. The subject later reported that he could feel and hear the air leaking out, and his last conscious memory was of the water on his tongue beginning to boil."

Thanks for the link.

Re:How long?

[DVega]

You've just described the "Space activity suit" [wikipedia.org].

Re:How long?

[Newrad]

The animals cells are pressurized for a certain depth. If they come up too fast, the cells burst, and the animal bursts. But if the creature is brought up slowly, it will probably be able to equalize its pressure it be normal in an aquarium.

Re:How long?

[martyr69]

Our top priority should be hunting them down and defeating them. They're much too large to not be a danger to us: we might be looking at the new WHALES here people.

Re:How long?

[moonbender]

Humans' lungs would implode underwater, and explode in space.

That really depends on what's inside them. Divers survive because they fill their lungs with air at the same pressure as their surroundings. Thus the lungs don't collapse. Of course, if the air inside your lungs is at 1 bar while you're in the deep, bad things happen. But the far more common accident AFAIK is actually the converse: you resurface while your lungs still hold air pressurized for 5, 10, 20 metres. Your lungs get stretched (ie they "explode"), and you're in a world of pain.

Re:How long?

[mrchaotica]

I'm no biologist, but I'm sure pressure affects more than just lung cavities. For example, divers get the bends when they come up and the pressure is released too quickly, causing the nitrogen in their blood to come out of solution. Now, I'm not saying that squid get the bends, but I imagine taking one to the surface would have some effect.

Re:pressure

[cornface]

so at the very least, they could put a giant squid inside a submarine.

He could wear a little captain's hat and pretend to steer.

Best laugh I've had all day!

[Wabbit Wabbit]

I'd mod you up if I could. And you owe me a coke and a keyboard.

Re:pressure

[imsabbel]

ok, lets take your example:

Submarines. You can build submarines capable of diving very deep. But those things are
a) made from steel (many times stronger than _any_ glass
b) self supporting (try cracking an egg by pressing on it from the outside, compare to pressure by chicken form inside)
c) go nowhere near "deep water" besides very small ones (which would be a unsuitable size for an aquarium).

Just imagine: a 1000m deep sea aquarium would have a pressure of 1000 metric tons per m^2 on every surface. Thats a stack of 15 fully supplied M1 tanks.
And it scales _baddly_. if you have a cube, and double the side length, you get square the surface, and thus square the force pushing on one side. But the line of material holding the the face in at the edge is only doubling, so you have to double glass thickness, too...

With those forces, you may build a pressure chamber (i.e. massivly externally supported structure with small volume) from glass (although i dont think it will work well), but an aquarium needs support (air/heating/cleaning), and any of those breaks would make the whole thing instable (remember, glass likes to crack).

Re:pressure

[FuturePastNow]

Sounds like we need some transparent aluminum. I heard there's this company in San Francisco....

Re:How long?

[mikeb]

Pressure is a BIG issue. Chemistry changes at pressure, reactions go differently.

Divers going below about 90 feet (30 metres) breathing air suffer nitrogen narcosis as dissolved nitrogen in the nerves cause an effect akin to drunkenness or partial anaesthesia.

Because the human breathing response is driven by the absolute partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the bloodstream, not its ratio to oxygen, deep diving means breathing much more air than is needed simply to flush out the apparent elevated level of co2 in the blood - the physiology is tricked by the pressure. Anyone practising emergency surfacing from a deep dive is astonished that they don't need to breath as they rise - you continuously exhale as the gas in the lungs expands (I was taught to sing on the way up) and the breathing response isn't triggered because the detected co2 level keeps falling.

Now this may not affect squid much, it's hard to believe that there are no pressure effects on the chemistry underpinning their biology.

Re:How long?

[mrchaotica]

Well, yeah, anything's possible, but is it practical to build one big enough for a giant squid? Don't forget that the pressure vessel would have to be much stronger than a spacecraft -- a spacecraft only has to contain a pressure differential of one atmosphere, whereas this would have to contain a differential tens or hundreds of times that.

Re:How long?

[modest apricot]

According to Wikipedia, giant squids [wikipedia.org] don't have swim bladders. Instead, they use ammonia in some way or another.

Re:How long?

[Anonymous Coward]

the hell with that....how long until we capture them and start putting lasers and darts on them??

It would be tough but possible.

[jd]

One of the problems with any of the species of giant squid (there are two that are known of) is that they absolutely require a very high pressure to survive. This makes recovery of a live one very difficult. But it could be done.

Start off with a hollow tube. I would suggest a tube about 60' in length (giant squid grow up to 40', and you have to allow time for this to work) and about 10' in diameter. Possibly a bit more. The tube walls need to be somewhere between 10'-20' in thickness and be good-quality ste

Re:How long?

[Your Pal Dave]

How Long?

Cripes, doesn't anyone even read the summary anymore?

26 feet.

Jeez.

where's the vid

[b17bmbr]

there's no video link. i need to see that.

Re:where's the vid

[Bananatree3]

I have been searching up and down google for a video, and I have yet to see even a reference to a site with it. According to this article [abc.net.au], It is a 30 time-laps movie of 3 hours while the giant squid was tied up. If you find a link, please post.

will photos do?

[weighn]

National Geographic has some piccys
here... [nationalgeographic.com]

Re:WOW.

[Ironsides]

though I can't imagine there's too many predators that want to tangle with a 40 foot long tentacle monster.

It only takes one, and the squid is dead. That one happens to be sperm whales, maybe other giant squid as well. Possibly even some other large predators we have never found as of yet (or think are extinct).

Re:WOW.

[Bertie]

Sperm whales can't get enough of them, apparently. I once saw some utterly incredible TV footage where they'd stuck a camera to the back of a sperm whale in the hope of seeing a giant squid when it went hunting. The camera was designed to pop off once it reached a certain depth so that they could recover it. They didn't find any squid, but the whale behaviour was amazing. There was a whale on either side of the one carrying the camera as they went diving down, and all the way they were chattering away to each other. At one point, they stopped (the depth was displayed in the corner of the screen), had a bit of a discussion, then the whale on the right swam right up to the camera and the screen was filled with whale eye. A few seconds of staring later, they had another chat among themselves and carried on. It seemed pretty obvious to me that the camera-carrier had said "hey, there's something stuck to my back, would you check it out?" and the other whale had a look, said words to the effect of "move on, nothing to see here" and off they went...

Re:WOW.

[Nintendork]

Thanks to the link posted by someone else and some creative Google seaching, here's a link [acornnaturalists.com] to purchase the video. It even mentions the scene with the camera mounted on the whale.

The Pictures

[dodald]

It sure would be nice to see the pictures.

Re:The Pictures

[Average_Joe_Sixpack]

Here you go giant squid [f9.co.uk]

Re:The Pictures

[m0nk3ym1nd]

Here's one at National Geographic [nationalgeographic.com]

Skip a beat, eh?

[Dachannien]

I think almost every geek's heart must skip a beat when they hear about giant squids

Mmmmm.... Tentacle hentai....

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Skip a beat, eh?

[JanneM]

Also, Japan is just a veritable breeding ground for fetishes in general.

Actually, living here I suspect that it's not that various fetishes are more common here than elsewhere. It's rather that it's much less of a social stigma, and so people are more open about it - which of course increases the available audience for material catering to it, which in turn greatly increases the visibility.

Also, the concept of "fetish" is a rather slippery one (entendre intended). In psychological litterature, having a strong preference for red hair counts as a fetish, but not a similarily strong preference for blonde or black hair. Nothing is a fetish in itself; it's very dependent on the social context. Having a strong preference for tall, blonde women would make you a fetishist in Japan; in Sweden you'd just be seen as boring. If everybody would like tentacle sex, it would cease to be a fetish at all.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Skip a beat, eh?

[StrawberryFrog]

. I have seen old Japanese art depicting Japanese women being mauled by octopus.

Yup. The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife [wikipedia.org] done in 1820.

mmmmm ... calamari

[Average_Joe_Sixpack]

served with a little butter, garlic and wedge of lemon

Re:mmmmm ... calamari

[AcidDan]

Must... Not... Give... In...
Bah! Sod It:

In depths of ocean, calamari eats you!

-- Dan =)

A buffet!

[darkitecture]

Calamari for EVERYONE!

No video

[Rooked_One]

looks like the giant squid will continue to remain uncaught on cameras. Personally I think they are just really ET's who like to have a nice sauna in our freezing oceans.... What?! Prove me wrong.

Pictures

[youknowmewell]

Pictures here [msn.com].

Re:Pictures

[dummyname12]

More pictures here [starwars.com].

Re:Pictures

[Eric Savage]

Please don't complain about the quality of people's links unless you have better ones.

IExploder...that's quality. Is it from Micro$oft? Does it run on windoze?

Re:Pictures

[dtfinch]

It links to a related article "Deep-sea monster caught on tape" which links to the video which they'll prevent you from viewing unless you're running IE6. Having barely skimmed through the 50kb or so of javascript that verifies your browser by dozens of methods, and generates urls to multiple scripts which it loads on the fly which it calls to finally generate the secret url to the video, I'm guessing their motive for blocking other browsers wasn't compatibility related.

Heart Skip

[mrclark13]

I think gaint squid are interesting. That being said, I think maybe the submitter needs to get out more and enjoy some human companionship if his heart skips a beat at the thought of squid. Either that or his ex-girlfriends must have been really monstrous.

squid pic

[opaqueice]

Here's a photo:

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9503272/ [msn.com]

Pictures

[Anonymous Coward]

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/09/ph otogalleries/giant_squid/index.html [nationalgeographic.com]

I just hope..

[Anonymous Coward]

that she doesn't try to take my happycake oven. Seriously, 40 watt deliciousness.

Giant Squid happy snaps

[Anonymous Coward]

Pictures here

http://www.smh.com.au/media/2005/09/28/11278045094 63.html [smh.com.au]

Fuck You Thomas Patterson!

[Anonymous Coward]

Damn right. I remember that day back in 6th grade where we got into a huge fight over the existance of the giant squid.

I had said that carcasses were found, and after making fun of me for using the word "carcass," you proceeded to articulate further on my sexuality (which, btw, you couldnt have been more wrong about.)

Tom, you then declared, through some haphazard strange conglomeration of swears and 6th grade dialogue, that you would drink your own pee if it were real.

Im going to find your number, and ask if you are going to do it. Just to fuck with you.

(name changed)

Worthless without pics

[Wind_Walker]

Researcher 1: OMFG! We just caught a Giant Squid on camera!
Researcher 2: Quick, let's get an article up and not give them any pictures!
Researcher 1: Perfect!

"only" 8m...thats big

[weighn]

from the wikipedia : recent estimates put the maximum size at 10 m

Eh

[phalse phace]

Eh. Nothing exciting here.

Now, if it were giant squids with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads...

I have some shocking news for you Mr. Geek

[Anonymous Coward]

26 feet long (a little more than 8m)

26 feet = 7.9248 meters

Re:I have some shocking news for you Mr. Geek

[mallocme]

you're forgetting the latest exchange rate. The foot has really been taking a hit lately.

Titanic Struggle

[Quirk]

My step Dad, a naval officer (pilot), now retired, saw a whale surface with a giant squid engulfing it's head. The whale breached a couple of times with the giant squid unrelentingly attached, attacking and maybe feeding.

I've read that during WWII giant squid would attack red life boats filled with sailors from sunk ships. Apparently the red colour attracts them.

By all accounts they are extremely aggresive, suggesting they don't see themselves as prey and know no predators.

I think I'll keep my exposure to them second hand.

Re:Titanic Struggle

[MalachiConstant]

Not that I totally doubt your dad's story, but if a squid surfaced it would die unless maybe it did it very, very slowly. I don't think it would be in much shape to be attacking.

As for them attacking life boats, that's ridiculous. If they were that easy to attract we would have photographed and captured them by now.

Thirdly, giant squid do have natural predators, the aforementioned sperm whales and (according to Wikipedia) the pacific sleeper shark.

They are nasty beasts, though. Take a look at their

Re:Titanic Struggle

[duffahtolla]

Rising slowly is to prevent bubbles from forming in the blood (for air breathers) or from the gas bag bursting (gas bladder fish). The Giant Squid does not breath air or have a gas bladder. It suffuses its tissue with ammonia to make itself buoyant, So I'm guessing that rising quickly wouldn't be a problem.

What kills them at the surface is the warmer temperature. Giant Squid blood sucks at carrying oxygen at higher temeratures. If they are too big, they will eventually suffercate in temperate water. Th

Re:Titanic Struggle

[MalachiConstant]

You're right, I was not thinking about their different body chemistry. I concede my first point, and thanks for the explanation of why only younger/smaller squids have been seen near the surface.

And just because you exposed my stupidity I'll mention that you spelled "suffocate" wrong. ;)

Re:Titanic Struggle

[Wazukkithemaster]

From my immense pool of knowledgem gathered mostly from years of watching the discovery channel, i have learned that giant squid would not be able to survive at the surface of the ocean. their blood is EXTREMELY thin and thus easily influenced by their surrounding environment. Furthermore, their blood temperature must stay around 10 degrees Celcius and too much variation would cause death. Also, The water pressure that they are used to be subject to is much greater in the depths of the ocean (obviously) than at its surface. That said, its unlikely the stories of giant squid feeding on red lifeboats filled with sailors (and what-not) are unlikely, as for the whale... i'm not sure

Re:Titanic Struggle

[rexguo]

Maybe that's why the whale surfaced: to kill the squid using its natural weaknesses.

Re:Titanic Struggle

[Frogbert]

By all accounts they are extremely aggresive, suggesting they don't see themselves as prey and know no predators.

Vin Diesel could take one on... probably two on a good day.

Kraken

[Ironsides]

I'm reminded of the old "tales" that seamen told when they came back from sea. Circa ~1400s, give or take a few centuries. There was a giant seamonst that looked a lot like a giant squid, except it had a beak below the eyes on the outside of it's head. Well, giant squid have a beak, it's just betweent he tentacles instead. Here's a picture of a Kraken. [mus.pa.us] Look familiar?

Cthulhu?

[Joel Rowbottom]

I think it was probably Cthulhu attacking the whale. Elder gods get really pissed off when they're awoken from their slumber.

Ummm, no, not EVERY time...

[DesScorp]

...according to this [mus.pa.us]:

In 1965, a Soviet whaler watched a battle between a squid and a 40 ton sperm whale. In this case neither were victorious. The strangled whale was found floating in the sea with the squid's tentacles wrapped around the whale's throat. The squid's severed head was found in the whale's stomach.

Re:Ummm, no, not EVERY time...

[Keebler71]

I'm trying to picture where a whale's neck is...

Tentacle?

[tedrlord]

So, wait. These scientists worked so long to track down and photograph this rare creature in its natural habitat, then tore off one of its tentacles before it could get away? That can't end well for the creature.

Re:Tentacle?

[Mateito]

All Japanese seafood research involves a hook. This is just an exension of their use of whales for scienfic purposes. mmmm... scientific purposes in garlic butter.

IT'S A TRAP!

[SoundGuyNoise]

That's what Calimari say when they get caught like that.

Well if it becomes a threat

[Solr_Flare]

We can just send in a squad of Toxic Dart Dolphins.

What do they look like? Duh...

[NewsWatcher]

"Nobody knew what they looked like in the wild."

Well, at a guess, just like a normal squid, only bigger.

Thank god the hunt is over. That was obviously worth the effort.

My god, is "incurious" the same as "funny"??

[ianscot]

Thank god the hunt is over. That was obviously worth the effort.

Ho ho. Imagine a 60-foot-long alien intelligence that's been living in the earth's oceans for millennia -- the source of countless myths and legends -- that escaped direct observation by modern science except in the form of dead specimens.

Cephalopods are cool stuff. Their nerve fibers are unbelievably thick -- used for all sorts of medical research, because you can actually see their axons with the naked eye in some species -- and fast. The

Jules Verne?

[aussie_a]

I think almost every geek's heart must skip a beat when they hear about giant squids (think "Jules Verne").

I never knew Jules Verne included tentactle rape in his stories.

Amazing....

[Lord_Dweomer]

Isn't it one of the signs of the coming Apocolypse that not one Overlords joke has been modded up in this story yet?

Re:Amazing.... Overlord Championships!

[Ranger]

Isn't it one of the signs of the coming Apocolypse that not one Overlords joke has been modded up in this story yet?

It's worse than that. I was just complaining about having to welcome yet another overlord [slashdot.org] when they announced acetylene based life on Titan. [slashdot.org] Now we add the Giant Squid Overlords and the Poison Dart Dolphin Overlords [slashdot.org] into the mix. The field is just getting too crowded. Maybe the guy who replied to my comment is right. [slashdot.org] It's about having the Overlord Championships and the toy tie ins. He was right. It's all about the children.

Get ready to RUMM-BOLLL!!!! I for one welcome the Overlord Championships. It is the only civilized way to find out who to be subservient and obsequious to.

Octopus attacking shark and other videos

[brit74]

Quite a few people have commented on octopus being predators. Here's a video of an octopus attacking a shark:

(Sorry, realplayer only.)
(Low Bandwidth)
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/octopus/media_playe rs_blue/shark_lo.html [pbs.org]
(High Bandwidth)
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/octopus/media_playe rs_blue/shark_hi.html [pbs.org]

WMV of an octopus blending in with its surroundings (which is pretty amazing to watch). http://www.big-boys.com/articles/octopus1.html [big-boys.com]

did you know...

[Kadmos]

Given the ability of squid [squid-cache.org] to join together with other "squids" the potential for the size of these groups (or "caches" as I prefer to call them) of squid is almost limitless! For maximum effeciancy in these groups the squid talk to each other and help each other out. The communication between each squid relies primarily on each squids role in the "cache" and can be anything from a "parent" or "child" squid to "siblings" (please note these relationships no not denote the lineage of family groups, but simply the authoritive role each squid plays). From what I have seen you could be quite close to one of these "caches" right now and not even be aware of it!

Is anyone going to use the adjective "Cthulhoid?"

[Errandboy of Doom]

Man, judging from those pictures, those giant squids must be 20,000 leagues long!

This one [nationalgeographic.com] is my favorite. The only thing more satisfying to my aquatic geekiness than a giant squid is a giant squid fighting a giant sperm whale.

Oh come on, you know you've run that fight in d20, or will soon.

An even bigger species than the Giant Squid...

[DesScorp]

...is the colossal squid, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni. Where giant squid are thought to get up to 60 ft long, no one knows just how large the CS can get. Remains of the two species have been compared, and the CS is bigger in just about everything, including the beak. They live only in Antarctic waters (that we know), and the remains of one washed up in the Ross Sea in 2003 [bbc.co.uk].

The BBC article on the subject has photos...

[cbirkett]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4288772. stm [bbc.co.uk]

Mon Calamari

[Winterblink]

Thought the squid: "It's a trap!"

Re:Pics here

[MyLongNickName]

You know what. I've seen goatse links before. They are grotesque. But this just crosses the line. Can we get the IP banned?

Now that you mention sperm whales..

[Spy der Mann]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperm_Whale [wikipedia.org]

There was an episode on Discovery's Animal Face-off [discovery.com] about a Giant Squid versus a Sperm Whale: The winner was the sperm whale, which stunned the squid with its sonic emitter, and then ate it whole. Of course, before this, the whale had to swim at a very high speed to get rid of the squid's clawed tentacles (this is why some sperm whales have scars on their heads, because you can't just take off a squid's tentacle, you have to rip it off - ouch).

It was an exciting and interesting episode :)

Re:Now that you mention sperm whales..

[LarsWestergren]

I really can't believe people watch that trash. All these resources, they could have made some GREAT nature shows (or some great tech shows), and instead they had to make it into a fucking pro-wrestling show for the drooling masses. "These are the weapons and armour of contestant one..."

Hey, I have an idea, for next season maybe they can add some CGI of the animals talking trash at each other and screaming threats before the face-off. That would be awesome!

Architeuthis tentacles aren't "clawed" like others

[ianscot]

Of course, before this, the whale had to swim at a very high speed to get rid of the squid's clawed tentacles (this is why some sperm whales have scars on their heads, because you can't just take off a squid's tentacle, you have to rip it off - ouch).

Giant squid don't have clawed tentacles. "Colossal squid" do, but architeuthis does not, for whatever reasons.

There are some smaller species that have truly badass claws on there. Humboldt squid -- which we have on camera as they become curious about a dive

Re:Too bad

[Otter]

The NYT article makes it sound like the squid got accidentally entangled, but if you look at the diagram on the National Geogrpahic site, the scientists deliberately snagged it. The baits were rigged with what seem to be scaled-up versions of squid jigs.