It is the thing that legends are made of: an elusive giant sea creature that rises from the deep and sinks sailing vessels with its massive tentacles. This has been our tale of giant squid, until now. Scientists have recently caught on video the creature that Norwegians back in the 12th century dubbed ” Kracken”. An ocotpus looking creature that was as large as a ship and could rip men limb from limb. While this does seem to be a bit exaggerated, the creature scientists have recently filmed off the coast of Japan can reach lengths longer than a school bus and is home to the largest eye in the animal kingdom.
Scientists have been relentlessly searching for this sea creature for hundreds of years. The search was finally successful, and the first ever video of a live giant squid in its natural habitat was filmed.
The discovery was made last summer near the Ogasawara Islands in Japan, 620 miles south of Tokyo. A research team lead by Tsunemi Kubodera first encountered the giant squid in the abyss at a depth of 2066 feet and followed it down to 2952 feet until it shot into the deeper waters.
An illustration from the original edition of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea depicting a giant squid. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Giant Squid Filmed Live for the First Time
This was no chance meeting. This history-making video was the culmination of a 10-year project of Japanese broadcaster, NHK. Over the course of this project, the team had compiled over 285 hours in the abyss and 55 sub dives. They utilized a silent submersible with hi-tech, invisible lighting and bio luminescent lures to coax these creatures out of the darkness and toward their waiting cameras.
Probably Not A Good Choice For Your Reef Tank
While many cephalopods have successfully been kept in fish only aquariums and even been successfully reproduced, we are not thinking they would make the best tank mates for our normal reef inhabitants like corals, fish, and inverts. They typically require a larger space to swim and track down their prey in and in the case of octopus, can even escape a sealed tank in Alcatrazian fashion!
We will share any updates we see and be sure to watch the premiere of the full video on the Discovery Channel later this month.
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