Kraken-cam —
Elusive giant squid captured on video in the ocean deep for first time
Researchers made nearly 100 attempts before getting footage.
Eric Bangeman - Jan 8, 2013 4:01 pm UTC
Screencap from The Guardian's footage.
with 35 posters participating, including story author
One of the most mysterious denizens of the deep ocean has finally been caught on video. Four hundred hours of tracking using a submersible vehicle have culminated in the first-ever video footage of a live giant squid, shot in the Pacific Ocean about 620 miles south of Tokyo.
The squid in question is actually a bit of a small fry, measuring just about 10 feet long (adult females can grow up to 43 feet long). Given that almost all of what we know about the giant cephalopods comes from specimens that have washed up on beaches or have been extracted from the stomachs of sperm whales, the video is generating a lot of excitement.
"I've seen a lot of giant squid specimens in my time, but mainly those hauled out of the ocean. This was the first time for me to see with my own eyes a giant squid swimming," zoologist and expedition leader Tsunemi Kubodera told Reuters. "It was stunning, I couldn't have dreamt that it would be so beautiful. It was such a wonderful creature."
Luring the squid in range of the camera wasn't easy. The creatures avoid light and noise, so the submersible vehicle needed to operate in near silence while illuminating the scene with a near-infrared lamp. Using a 3-foot long squid as bait, it took nearly 100 attempts to get the footage.
Giant Squid Caught on Tape for First Time for Discovery Channel's 'Monster Squid: The Giant Is Real'
The Discovery Channel will air a documentary on the filming of the giant squid later in January.
Update: The headline was changed to clarify that this is the first footage taken of the giant squid in its natural habitat. In 2006, a giant squid was filmed after being snared as it was hauled to the surface, dying of its injuries.
Eric Bangeman Eric has been using personal computers since 1980 and writing about them at Ars Technica since 2003, where he currently serves as Managing Editor.
zneak Ars Centurion
What's the evidence that females can grow 43 feet long if it's the first time we see a giant squid? Is it just the first time we see one live?
EDIT: According to Wikipedia, 43 feet is an estimate. No one ever found an actual 43-feet long female giant squid. The page still doesn't say how people came up with that estimate. How's my question not good?
The last time I heard about it, marine biologists came up with huge squid sizes because of tentacle marks on sperm whales, but they weren't sure if these marks were from giant squids or scars from smaller squids that grew bigger with the whale. (Or was that for colossal squids, which are apparently another species? See, I need someone to explain it to me.)
That same Wikipedia page says a giant squid was already filmed in 2006.
Last edited by zneak on Tue Jan 08, 2013 2:32 pm
Stuka87 Ars Scholae Palatinae
What they didn't mention is they were actually filming a new Discovery show called "Finding Godzilla". Local fishermen swear they saw him in that area. The giant squid just happen to get in the way.
**Fixed Typo
Last edited by Stuka87 on Tue Jan 08, 2013 6:36 pm
wallinbl Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
zneak wrote:
This is explained in the article.
kranchammer Ars Tribunus Militum
Absolutely surreal and fascinating.
Not only is this an alien-looking creature, the lack of background in the deep dark ocean makes it look like a computer rendering.
Next checkmark: footage of cachalots hunting these.
Gandhim3 Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
Missed opportunity with the headline. Should have said -
"Guardian unleashes the Kraken"
Followed by one of Aurich's funny illustrations.
8878 posts | registered Jul 10, 2006
copernicum Ars Centurion
This is NOT the first time giant squid has been filmed.
225 posts | registered Jun 1, 2012
DoomHamster Ars Tribunus Militum et Subscriptor
I could swear I've seen nearly identical footage a few years ago...will have to see if I can dig it up.
EDIT: Found the video I was thinking of from 2009:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=887708n
These were stills, though...not video, so this new one is very cool!
Last edited by DoomHamster on Tue Jan 08, 2013 11:24 am
nehinks Ars Praefectus
Shouldn't it be called a not-so-giant squid in this case?
bsiu Wise, Aged Ars Veteran et Subscriptor
Amazing discovery. I find it incredible that we still know so little about the oceans and their wildlife.
--B
kgersen Wise, Aged Ars Veteran
we went to the moon, we have a rover currently on Mars and yet some giant jelly animal in our oceans has never been filmed since 2012... fascinating.
Eric Managing Editor et Subscriptor
copernicum wrote:
Correct. A live giant squid has been photographed, and video was taken of a dying specimen as it was hauled to the surface. That's why the headline says "video."
18889 posts | registered Mar 21, 2001
NicoleC Ars Tribunus Militum
Awesome underwater footage, but what's the dead squid at the end? I can't tell if that's old footage, or they filmed the squid and then killed it.
cdclndc Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius et Subscriptor
Jakal wrote:
Fact checking before publishing a story? PREPOSTROUS, good sir. Think of all the coffee the author would miss out on during the 15 seconds it takes to wiki such a thing. I find the mere notion offensive!
How's that foot taste?
killing_time Ars Praefectus
Eric wrote:
Correct. Giant squids have been photographed by cameras with a trigger. That's why the headline says "video."
no, there has been video before as well.
this is the first time in natural habitat (from reading other articles online.)
previously they have hooked them somehow and dragged them up while filming.
they usually lose their "arms" in the process.
there could be some discrepancy with colossal and giant squids, and the colossal was the ones previously filmed.
3363 posts | registered Sep 27, 2011
NicoleC wrote:
I wondered about that myself. In looking a second time it's old footage. They've even labeled it 'Archive' on the top left.
Ragnarredbeard Ars Tribunus Militum
Given the relatively low quality of the video, how do they know its a "giant" squid - that is 10 feet long - or another squid species that is around that size?
deas187 Ars Scholae Palatinae
quick! kill it strictly for research purposes!
dirkvs Ars Praetorian
I can't help but think of Steve Zissou when I think of the guy who spent all this time searching for this squid.
Kilkenny Ars Praefectus et Subscriptor
cdclndc wrote:
That's apparently from the instance (mentioned in earlier comments) where fishermen hauled in a dying squid.
abridge683 Ars Centurion
I seem to remember (dangerous) that a (perhaps) Japanese team filmed a giant squid as it attacked a bait tethered to a long line. The camera looked down the line and the squid was seen to approach from below. I think this video was taken off New Zealand but I could be mixing other stories from about the same time.
abridge683 wrote:
DoomHamster linked to it above (link says they just photographed it, not filmed). I notice it's the same lead scientist who got this footage.
Thorzdad Ars Scholae Palatinae
That's a lot of ika there. mmmmmmmmmm...
Still doesn't make the subject line true, though.
I have changed the headline and updated the article to reflect that this is the first video of a live, healthy squid taken in its natural habitat, referencing the 2006 video of a dying squid being hauled struggling to the surface.
Also, some might remember the Long Arm Squid video captured around 2007 near an oil rig. I swear that thing could double in any alien themed movie. The head alone reminds me of the movie Independence Day.
variable455 Ars Praetorian
EDIT: According to Wikipedia, 43 feet is an estimate. No one ever found an actual 43-foot long female giant squid. The page still doesn't say how people came up with that estimate. How's my question not good? The last time I heard about it, marine biologists came up with that length because of tentacle marks on sperm whales, but they weren't sure if these marks were from giant squids or just grew up with the whales. (Or was that for colossal squids, which are apparently another species? See, I need someone to explain it to me.)
the 2006 footage was of a HOOKED squid... this is in it's natural habitat.
and the female in the Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian) is 36 ft long.. 43 isn't a stretch (no pun intended)
biggest one on record is 43ft. (http://ocean.si.edu/giant-squid) but gender is not stated.
Because tentacles and arms fall off or, alternatively, can be stretched out, scientists often use mantle length as the best measure of a squid's actual size. The longest mantle length on record is 7.4 feet (2.25 meters); the length from the tip of the top fin to the end of the arms rarely exceeds 16 feet (5 meters), and the longest total length (including tentacles) of a squid on record is 43 feet (13 meters).
Jakal Ars Legatus Legionis
Ars Technica has a reputation of being one of the most professional tech news outlets on the 'net. Your effort to maintain that reputation is much appreciated!
16872 posts | registered Oct 6, 2001
SimonW Ars Centurion
I hope not, but you can never tell. As a biologist, I'm always left a bit wistful by the fact that biology is our study of living things...by killing 'em. There was an excellent recent autobiographical documentary by David Attenborough where he showed old footage (1960s?) of his visit to a beach where turtles had laid their eggs. Clearly embarrassed and quite rueful he proceeded to comment on the ensuing scene where his 1960s self was tucking into one of the eggs while noting how tasty and nutritious they were. Another wonderful creature of the oceans giving up secrets one at a time (the turtle, not David Attenborough)
fferitt25 Ars Praefectus
Ironically your UPDATE did not convey the intention that well. As I read the Title prior to the rest of the article ending with the update - My first thought was the 2006 news item and was going to be the topic of my post.
You might want to try again with the title.
No actual video ?
Not even at the Guardian.
Sixclaws Ars Praefectus
deas187 wrote:
And don't forget to sell the meat at an overly inflated price to cover for the research cost!
Kilkenny wrote:
That's kinda what I thought, but it wasn't very clear to me.
Aurich Creative Director et Subscriptor
Gandhim3 wrote:
I just got home from an Ars biz trip, so wasn't available, but I think Nate is working on some kind of awesome Kraken piece, so maybe I'll get another shot.
abhi_beckert Ars Tribunus Militum
Wikipedia says the estimate is based on pieces of giant squid found inside the sperm wales that eat them. They mention 130 half-eaten squid were measured to reach that estimate.
There have also been other similar species captured that were larger than 43 feet, and there are plenty of unconfirmed reports of giant squid as large as 60 feet (one theory is that, being invertebrates, they are somewhat flexible so you could stretch them out to longer than their natural length).
krimhorn Ars Legatus Legionis et Subscriptor
Breaking News: A second research team has caught footage of what appears to be the Nautilus cruising along nearby.
Jokotai Ars Praefectus
So, more comments complaining about the form of the article itself rather than discussing its content... tough room.
5220 posts | registered Nov 5, 2009
Veritas super omens Ars Praefectus et Subscriptor
I noted from other sites (ABC, I think) that not only is this the first video of a live, in habitat, giant squid its the first direct visual observation, the researcher was in the mini sub that got the video. The reason the video is so short is that its release was prohibited by contract with the Discovery Channel, who I'm sure paid a pretty penny to get get exclusive rights.
Carbon Fibre Ars Scholae Palatinae
Massive. I ripped open squids in lab class, quite disturbing to see. I can imagine this beast over me.