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Mighty_Emperor Divine Wind
Joined: 18 Aug 2002 Total posts: 19943 Location: Mongo Age: 42 Gender: Male |
 Posted: 10-10-2005 04:37 Post subject: |
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At 12 ft it doesn't sound like a Giant Squid - just a big one. 
You also wouldn't be able to fry and eat a piece of Giant Squid (they are ammoniacal).
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Iggore for cephalopod nookie you should see this thread:
www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10843 |
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| blakta2 The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out....
Great Old One Joined: 31 Dec 2003 Total posts: 139 Location: huh? Age: 46 Gender: Female |
| Posted: 11-10-2005 04:53 Post subject: |
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Hi 
The fisherdude did cut a nice chunk out of that squid and eat it, but he learned rather quickly that the thing wasn't at all edible.
| Quote: | Kambak and a deckhand gaffed, gutted and iced the squid. Kambak said he initially wanted to salvage the creature for food, but soon learned that giant squid aren't really edible.
"I fried up a little bit just to check it out," he told the Daily News. "It was incredibly salty and it had a little bit of an aftertaste."
Researchers said the creature was probably a giant Pacific squid, a species that ranges from California to Japan. The biggest squid-rarely seen alive-grow up to 60 feet long and live as deep as 3,500 feet.
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What was really neat about it is that the thing was latched on to its' prey and rode it to the surface of the ocean. The fishermen had no idea what they were looking at to begin with.
| Quote: | Kambak was fishing for black cod in the Gulf of Alaska southwest of Yakutat in mid-April when he was startled to find a hooked halibut rising from a depth of 2,000 feet with a snarled brown mass on its back. The deep-water predator had no plans to let go of the 150pound flatfish and gnawed on the halibut all the way to the surface.
"It looked like a stained-glass window of a halibut," Kambak told the Anchorage Daily News, "where the arms and tentacles of the squid were the lead between the panes. Because this squid had totally encapsulated this halibut."
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Anyhow, I know it wasn't a GIGANTIC squid, but it drew a lot of attention and quite a few researchers from around the country. Something like that is BIG NEWS for a small fishing town in Southeast Alaska.
~Kim~ |
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| Mighty_Emperor Divine Wind
Joined: 18 Aug 2002 Total posts: 19943 Location: Mongo Age: 42 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 28-12-2005 16:45 Post subject: |
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Anyone in the Mebourne area (actually I can check on the handy poll)?:
| Quote: | Eye-to-eye with a giant squid
From:
By Natasha Robinson
December 21, 2005
THE crew of a New Zealand fishing trawler were lucky Archi the giant squid was dead when they hauled him up on deck.
Ned Land, of Disney fame, was not so lucky when a giant squid attacked him in the 1950s film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
But children who come to view Archi, whose tentacles are doubled back and forth above him in a custom-made box in Melbourne Aquarium, will be safe. The 7m monster is trapped in the biggest block of ice ever made in Australia.
"You could call it a monster," says curator Nick Kirby. "It looks like it almost wants to come out of the ice."
Fascination with the giant squid stems from years of unconfirmed reports from fisherman about their boats being attacked by the creatures.
Stories of the beasts taking on sperm whales and coming out victorious were dismissed as fantasy until scientists agreed it was possible.
And adding to its mystique, a giant squid had never been observed alive until a Japanese film crew captured one off the Ogasawara Islands in September last year.
Mr Kirby says the aquarium has been given three giant squids in the past, but this year is the first time staff have successfully encased one of the animals in ice.
"We experimented to see which was the best way to have a clear-ice display of the squid," he says. "That means freezing it over weeks, rather than hours. You've got to hold everything in place while it freezes.
"Now it's held in place with a mixture of wire that goes through the tentacles and body, and nylon and weights."
The freezing process took three weeks, says icemaker Rohan Donohoe. He had to freeze the ice slowly to stop it from cracking. The entire process cost more than $50,000.
"We ran circulating pumps and filters to keep the water clear," he says. "It was a big pain to move around because it weighed so much."
His ice enclosure will remain fresh for about a year, and Mr Kirby says after that another block will probably be made to allow the exhibition to continue or travel.
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Melbourne Aquarium's Monsters of the Deep exhibition opens tomorrow and will run until January 26. |
www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17626520-13762,00.html |
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| nataraja Great Old One Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Total posts: 106 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 01-03-2006 22:27 Post subject: Giant “squid” in Chile scares vacationers |
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http://www.mercopress.com/Detalle.asp?NUM=7308
| Quote: | The emergence of a 1.7 meters long cuttlefish in a Puerto Montt beach, south of Chile caused panic Sunday among vacationers, reports the Chilean press
Apparently an eight year old girl was swimming in the Chinquihue beach when she began screaming for help. Several people went to her rescue and came across the giant cephalopod at waist depth, which they “stoned” to death and later pulled to the beach.
The incident with the approximately fifty kilos cuttlefish was reported to authorities who called for a local marine biologist.
Cristina Rodríguez from the Oceanography Department of the local university said the specimen was a Dosidicus gigas which approached the Chilean coast because at this time of the year the sea water temperature surges as much as two degrees.
“Sea water in the coast of Puerto Montt at this time of the year varies between 12 and 16 degrees which causes the cuttlefish to move in”, said Ms. Rodriguez. The marine expert forecasted that coastal fishermen will be the most affected in the coming weeks because of cuttlefish stranded in their nets and long lines. “This is not an isolated event, so we can expect to come across many more specimens in coming weeks”.
Ms Rodriguez described the Dosidicus gigas as an very aggressive species that feeds on fishes.
“He’s a big devourer of fish so local fishermen will be the most exposed if as happened in the Eighth Region, more precisely in Tomé, these cephalopods take over the beaches”, explained Ms Rodriguez to Puerto Montt press. |
I'm a bit confused as to why they call it a "squid" in the title and then a "cuttlefish"... i'm not sure of the exact distinction between a cuttlefish and a squid, but thought from the other stuff i'd read that Dosidicus was generally considered a squid...
Not as big as Architeuthis or Mesonychoteuthis, but still pretty scary... i'm guessing the Alaskan halibut-eating squid was presumably the same or a similar genus? |
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| Anome_ Faceless Man
Great Old One Joined: 23 May 2002 Total posts: 5377 Location: Left, and to the back. Age: 45 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 04-03-2006 13:00 Post subject: |
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I was pretty sure that cuttlefish and squid are different. I don't think squids have quite the same "surfboard" arrangement of "bone" in the head. (Something I just checked here, and seems to be correct.)
Still, if it were a cuttlefish, it could keep a lot of budgies very happy for a long time. |
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| sunsplash1 Fortean and Proud
cognitively purposefuly I Joined: 09 Jan 2004 Total posts: 2074 Location: The Hills, overlooking a smallish antipodean city in South Australia Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 05-03-2006 03:08 Post subject: |
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Cuttlefish! Amazing creatures. Photofore (sp?) skin. Have seen the spawning/ meeting grounds near (sort of, in the Australian form of near) adelaide.. Cuttlefish get a bit boisterous (as in riots of color) when they get together...
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| Mighty_Emperor Divine Wind
Joined: 18 Aug 2002 Total posts: 19943 Location: Mongo Age: 42 Gender: Male |
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| BlackRiverFalls I wear a fez now.
Joined: 03 Aug 2003 Total posts: 8716 Location: The Attic of Blinky Lights Age: 44 Gender: Female |
| Posted: 24-08-2006 20:35 Post subject: |
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Nice clip here, extracted from a discovery channel documentary, showing researchers with a 20ft long giant squid tentacle that's so fresh it's still moving 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGLUT62mHz4&NR |
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| BlackRiverFalls I wear a fez now.
Joined: 03 Aug 2003 Total posts: 8716 Location: The Attic of Blinky Lights Age: 44 Gender: Female |
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| RainyOcean Alien Kitty
Peek-A-Boo Joined: 19 May 2004 Total posts: 2006 Location: In my basement making a suit out of human skin Age: 31 Gender: Female |
| Posted: 03-12-2006 00:24 Post subject: |
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"The video has been removed due to terms of use violation."  |
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| Pietro_Mercurios Heuristically Challenged
Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 03-12-2006 01:08 Post subject: |
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Squid are on the increase because there's so few decent sized fish out there, these days, that jellyfish are reproducing at a fantastic rate. Squid love to eat jellyfish. According to BBC radio4, anyway.
The Kraken awakes. |
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| Iggore Customize This !!!
Great Old One Joined: 01 Aug 2005 Total posts: 530 Location: Shmocation Age: 28 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 06-12-2006 05:43 Post subject: |
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Ah crap, this is such a let down.  |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17931 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 22-12-2006 14:04 Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
Japanese scientists herald live giant squid footage
Japanese scientists have released what they say could be the first live video footage of the elusive giant squid, exposing some of the creature's underwater secrets.
Scientists of the National Science Museum said they succeeded in catching a deep-sea giant squid at a depth of 640 meters (2,112 feet) on December 6 in the North Pacific Ocean, some 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) south of Tokyo.
"As the video movie shows, the giant squid struggled furiously to escape the catch by spouting water from its funnel. This means they can actually swim pretty fast, in addition to their normal movement just drifting in deep waters," said Tsunemi Kubodera, head of the research team, as he showed the video to reporters Friday.
"Probably this is the first-ever video of a live giant squid, although I have not confirmed it yet," Kubodera said.
The squid was 3.5 meters (11.55 feet) long, with a head stretching 1.4 meters, and weighed 50 kilogram (110 pounds), he said.
Kubodera said he started rolling a camera just before another member of the team caught the giant squid with a long-rope trap.
Scientists said the capture at a depth of 640 meters suggested an enormous number of squid lived at great depths.
"Squid, including giant squid, are the main food for sperm whales. And one sperm whale has to eat at least 500 kilograms of squid everyday," said Kubodera.
"About 200,000 sperm whales are thought to live in the western half of the Pacific, so you can see how many squid there should be in deep waters," he said.
Scientists would study the remains of the squid's stomach in the coming months, he added.
http://www.physorg.com/printnews.php?newsid=85995753 |
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| Rrose_Selavy Exquisite Elemental
Joined: 07 Jan 2003 Total posts: 1940 Location: Stranded in Sub-Atomica Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 22-12-2006 22:46 Post subject: |
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Not "live" for very long - ironically it died in the process....
| Quote: | Times Online December 22, 2006
A giant squid attacking a bait squid is being pulled up by a research team off the Ogasawara Islands, south of Tokyo (Tsunemi Kubodera/AP)
Giant squid captured live on camera for first time
Times Online and agencies
Pictures: creatures of the deep
A Japanese research team that succeeded in filming a live giant squid for the first time said that the elusive creatures could be more plentiful than previously thought.
The team videotaped the giant creature off the Ogasawara Islands south of Tokyo, this month. The squid, which measured about seven meters (24ft) long, died while it was being caught.
"We believe this is the first time anyone has successfully filmed a giant squid that was alive," said Tsunemi 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."
The captured squid was caught using a smaller type of squid as bait, and pulled into a research vessel "after putting up quite a fight," Mr Kubodera said.
"It took two people to pull it in, and they lost it once, which might have caused the injuries that killed it," he added.
He said the invertebrate, a female, was not fully grown and was relatively small, by giant squid standards. "The longest one on record is 18 meters (60ft)."
Mr Kubodera and his team found the squid on December 4 off the remote island of Chichijima, which is about 960 kilometres (600 miles) southeast of Tokyo.
They 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.
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."
Until the successes of Mr Kubodera and his team, most scientific studies 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.
Mr Kubodera said whales led his team to the squid. By finding an area where whales fed, he believed he could find the animals. "Giant squid are a major source of food for sperm whales," he said.
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 500kg to 1,000kg (1,100lb-2,200lb) 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."
Having filmed the squid, Mr Kubodera said his next goal is to further study the creatures’ habits in their natural surroundings, at a depth of around 650 meters (2,100ft). But he said he is not planning to try to capture one live.
"It is possible, if you were to go out very well prepared with a large ship and a large tank," he said. "But we don’t have that kind of funding."
Copyright 2006 Times Newspapers Ltd.
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| Rubyait Great Old One Joined: 10 Sep 2004 Total posts: 1783 Location: Not telling Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 14-02-2007 12:04 Post subject: |
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Giant squid lights up for attack
| Quote: | Enormous deep-sea squid emit blinding flashes of light as they attack their prey, research shows.
Taningia danae's spectacular light show was revealed in video footage taken in deep waters off Chichijima Island in the North Pacific.
Japanese scientists believe the creatures use the bright flashes to disorientate potential victims.
Writing in a Royal Society journal, they say the squid are far from the sluggish, inactive beasts once thought.
In fact, the footage, taken in 2005 - the first time T. danae had been captured on camera in their natural environment - reveals them to be aggressive predators.
The squid, which can measure over 2m (7ft) in length, deftly swim backwards and forwards by flapping their large, muscular fins. They are able to alter their direction rapidly by bending their flexible bodies.
The films, taken at depths of 240m to 940m (790 to 3,080ft), also show the cephalopods reaching speeds of up to 2.5m (8ft) per second as they attack the bait, capturing it with their eight tentacles.
Blinding flashes
However, the intense pulses of light that accompanied the ferocious attacks surprised the research team.
Dr Tsunemi Kubodera from the National Science Museum in Tokyo, who led the research, told the BBC News website: "No-one had ever seen such bioluminescence behaviour during hunting of deep-sea large squid."
The footage reveals the creatures emitting short flashes from light-producing organs, called photophores, on their arms.
Writing in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the team said: "[The bioluminescence] might act as a blinding flash for prey."
The light would disorientate the squid's intended prey, disrupting their defences, they added.
It could also act, the scientists commented, "as a means of illumination and measuring target distance in an otherwise dark environment."
However, further investigation revealed the light bursts may also serve another, quite different, purpose away from the hunting field - courtship.
As the squid drifted around torches that had been attached to the bait rig, they emanated long and short pulses of light.
The team believe the torch lights may have resembled another glowing T. danae, and the squid were possibly emitting light as courtship behaviour.
Deep-sea squid - once thought to be legendary monsters of the sea - are notoriously difficult to study, and little is known about their ecology and biology. Several species prowl the ocean depths.
T. danae is thought to be abundant in the tropical and subtropical oceans of the world. The largest reported measured 2.3m (7.5ft) in length and weighed nearly 61.4kg (134.5lbs).
Larger species of giant squid belong to the Architeuthidae family: females are thought to measure up to 13m (43ft) in length.
But the aptly named colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) is thought to be the largest of all - possibly reaching up to 14m (46ft) long.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6357005.stm
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