Colossal Squid Discovered: Wonders of the Deep

[Kerrie]

Reading this story makes me wonder why we seem to understand space better then we understand what is at the bottom of the oceans...

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/04/03/colossal.squid.reut/index.html [/URL]

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I really think the deep sea is so interesting. I've always wanted to take a submarine down there and check it out. Scary though!

"This is a very aggressive animal and moves quickly. If you fell in the water next to it you would be in big trouble," said Bolstad.

How can they make this statement if they haven't seen either squid in real-time? They only collect bodies.

 

[Kerrie]

is there any guesses to how big these colossal squid are?

 

[drag]

Wow ! 13 meters ?!

 

[TENYEARS]

This is from the Guiness World Book

Largest Eye
The Atlantic giant squid (Architeuthis dux) has larger eyes than any other animal. A record-breaking specimen found in Thimble Tickle Bay, Newfoundland, Canada, in 1878, had eyes with an estimated diameter of 50 cm (20 in).

If this was from the older book I used to have, this animal was over 6 tons. They were not absolutly certain until a DNA sample was done years later and found it to be a squid.

For Octopi it was about 4700lbs.

In WWII they were found to be picking off sailors and pilots who were floating in the waters after ships and planes went down. A destroyer radar tech was monitoring the radar one day when the screen went blank. He watched and wondered what happened. He rechecked the instruments and then it suddenly came back on. When the ship docked in port he checked the front of the ship where the radar bra was and found what looked to be a tooth embeded in the bra. He pulled the massive tooth free and had it analyzed. It was found to be of a squid and it was estimated that the squid would have had to have been 200 foot in length.

I would imagine they only speak about these smaller ones as to not bring attention to the fact that the oceans are so overfished that they cannot support life they way it used to be only a short time ago.

 

[Loren Booda]

Giant squid are thought to attack sperm whales!

 

[Bubonic Plague]

Giant squid are thought to attack sperm whales!

I thought it was the other way around, giant squids have been found in the bellies of sperm whales.

 

[Viper]

Actually they eat each other, has anyone read animorphs?

 

[drag]

Originally posted by TENYEARS
In WWII they were found to be picking off sailors and pilots who were floating in the waters after ships and planes went down. A destroyer radar tech was monitoring the radar one day when the screen went blank. He watched and wondered what happened. He rechecked the instruments and then it suddenly came back on. When the ship docked in port he checked the front of the ship where the radar bra was and found what looked to be a tooth embeded in the bra. He pulled the massive tooth free and had it analyzed. It was found to be of a squid and it was estimated that the squid would have had to have been 200 foot in length.

200 ?!
(sound of a body hitting the floor) [zz)]
They'll never get me on one of those dreadful ships...

 

[russ_watters]

Originally posted by Loren Booda
Giant squid are thought to attack sperm whales!

This one isn't all that colossal then, is it? I've heard squid can be 100 feet long. Maybe that's just a mariner's myth though.

 

[LURCH]

Originally posted by russ_watters
This one isn't all that colossal then, is it? I've heard squid can be 100 feet long. Maybe that's just a mariner's myth though.

Evidence has been found of giant squid over 75 feet in length. However, it would appear that this Colossal Squid has shorter limbs, but a larger body, making it heavier. And I believe the article does mention that this specimen is "half grown".


As for giant squid attacking sperm whales, this is now almost universally accepted to be incorrect. It was a story that grew out of the evidence of succer-disk scars on the hides of sperm whales. But it is now generally accepted that these scars are the result of the whales attacking the squid, which appear to constitute a chief food source for them.

 

[Zero]

To squid, I say "LUNCH!"


To a giant squid, I say "LUNCH...FOREVER!"

 

[Viper]

I think it would eat you before you got anywhere near it. Would it eat humans?

 

[Loren Booda]

You've never heard the story "Jonah and the Squid"?

 

[Sting]

What's really interesting is that they report that the C. Squid is "an aggressive killer". I'm not sure how they observed this.

Any reports on the size of the radula?

To squid, I say "LUNCH!"
To a giant squid, I say "LUNCH...FOREVER!"

Sure, I bet giant squid tastes just like chicken with a hint of ammonia.

 

[Viper]

He probably thinks you taste like human!