researchers catch giant squid

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- A Japanese research team has succeeded in filming a giant squid live -- possibly for the first time -- and says the elusive creatures may be more plentiful than previously believed, a researcher said Friday.

The research team, led by Tsunemi Kubodera, videotaped the giant squid at the surface as they captured it off the Ogasawara Islands south of Tokyo earlier this month. The squid, which measured about 24-feet 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 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."

www.cnn.com...

finally after so many years they got lucky enough to catch one of these things!!!

i hope the dont forget to study this thing before they chop it up and eat it!

Im unsure if I would eat something like that... seems a bit too monstrous

Actually, it's not the fist one that's been available to study, there ahve been quite a few that have washed up on shores, or been caught in fishing nets, all dead. This was the first live one filmed and caught, but it died minutes after being hauled on board the ship.

mmmmmm Calamari :-)

Wasn't there a film clip from National Geographic a couple years back of a giant squid taken from about 1,000 feet down in its natural environment? I seem to recall seeing it on NOVA or something like that.

I thiought that they've been filmed (or at least observed) alive at the surface already too, albeit just before death (like this one).

I think the more important goal is to film them in their natural deep sea environment, something that certainly hasn't been done successfully yet.

[edit on 12/23/2006 by djohnsto77]

i think they may have been found before but they were always washed up like others mentioned. this case is especially rare because they ALMOST caught this mammoth squid alive, just almost.

Don't mean to be the pooper scooper here but can't we just leave them alone? We touch(kill) far too many things on this planet.

Originally posted by intrepid
Don't mean to be the pooper scooper here but can't we just leave them alone? We touch(kill) far too many things on this planet.

how are we supposed to learn more about our planet if we just leave everything alone? hmmm?

[edit on 23-12-2006 by conspiracymaster]

Originally posted by conspiracymaster

Originally posted by intrepid
Don't mean to be the pooper scooper here but can't we just leave them alone? We touch(kill) far too many things on this planet.

how are we supposed to learn more about our planet if we just leave everything alone? hmmm?

[edit on 23-12-2006 by conspiracymaster]

How are we going to benefit from species if we leave them dead? Wouldn't it be ironic if we learned that the ocean was totally reliant on the giant squid, just after we made the extinct. :shk:

Originally posted by intrepid

Originally posted by conspiracymaster

Originally posted by intrepid
Don't mean to be the pooper scooper here but can't we just leave them alone? We touch(kill) far too many things on this planet.

how are we supposed to learn more about our planet if we just leave everything alone? hmmm?

[edit on 23-12-2006 by conspiracymaster]

How are we going to benefit from species if we leave them dead? Wouldn't it be ironic if we learned that the ocean was totally reliant on the giant squid, just after we made the extinct. :shk:

your probably right but nobody can change whats been done. and for one i would love to know alot more about this giant squid.

[edit on 23-12-2006 by conspiracymaster]

Well from what I can gather what makes this interesting is that they actually lured one to the surface when all other previous films of them had been made from depths of 1,000 feet or greater.

Originally posted by intrepid
Don't mean to be the pooper scooper here but can't we just leave them alone? We touch(kill) far too many things on this planet.

Im so glad someone brought this up- we have no idea how many of these things are in there.. there could be very few and we've wasted one.. just to say we caught it? Chop it up? Study it? Big deal.. we know what a squid is made up of.. whats the difference if its super sized?

well they are common enough to be one of the favorite meals of the sperm whale.

They were hoping to capture it alive apparently, but it was injured too badly in the process of catching it.

There is little reason to believe they are endangered.

And you wouldn't want to eat one - giant squid are full of ammonia, it wouldn't make very good calamari

I would expect that there is no way to capture it alive. It needs the pressure.

Surface Pressure + Giant Squid = Squid Jelly

Kind of like...

Broken Spacesuit + Astronaut = Astronaut Jelly

I vote we leave them beneath the surface from now on.

Sri Oracle

Actually, Sri Oracle, it's believed that these things are "super sounders". This is the reason that their bodies are full of ammonia. It's what keeps them in-tact when they rise to the surface.

What I find really interesting about these things is that there have been legends and stories about them for hundreds, even thousands of years. Old paintings depict giant squid attacks. Stories that have long been scoffed at accurately described these creatures. The Greeks called them Cracken and called them Gods of the sea.

We had dismissed them as being works of overactive imaginations and consigned them to the annuals of fiction... only to find that they really are real.

Makes you wonder what else me might be ignoring in this age of rationalism, eh?

Thar truly be monsters here.

very interesting, Where are they found? I see the video tells us that you can see them off of Japan, I also believe that they are found at either the Arctic or Antarctic.

That's a nice video. If anyone doesn't want to get it through CNN's website, it's available here.

Is it just me, or does the squid seem rather sluggish in the video? It must be near the end of the capture because the article did say it put up quite a fight.

Anyway, I don't think it's wrong to take specimans from nature as long as we're careful about it. I think it's necessary for us to learn more about the animals around us.

Originally posted by supercheetah
That's a nice video. If anyone doesn't want to get it through CNN's website, it's available here.

Is it just me, or does the squid seem rather sluggish in the video? It must be near the end of the capture because the article did say it put up quite a fight.

Anyway, I don't think it's wrong to take specimans from nature as long as we're careful about it. I think it's necessary for us to learn more about the animals around us.

yea same with me. i dont like the idea of animals dieing in the process but i like the idea of learning more about those animals. its a shame the poor squid had to die

I was lucky anough to actually see one washed up on shore on the upper North island of New Zealand while at a mates beach flat.. there.. just unblievable huge.. i may even be able to find some pictures if i can find some.. it was quite amazing, once in a life time event.. nah..

But to capture one live, i can assure you alot that many New Zealand scientest have tryed, finally someone got one, much applause.