Thursday, September 29, 2005

Live Giant Squid Photographed!

Because I'm a bit of a science geek, and because they have that 'cool' mythic element to them, news regarding Giant Squids excite me. Well, on September 27th, word spread that a live one had been photographed underwater!

Live Giant Squid Photo 01
Photograph courtesy T. Kubodera and K. Mori.

Live Giant Squid Photo 02
Photograph courtesy T. Kubodera and K. Mori.

The Japanese scientists estimated the animal to be an astounding 25 feet long but the longest giant squid on record measured 59 feet (18 meters), including its two elongated tentacles. Along with photos of the exciting discovery, National Geographic posted the story:
"The scientists say they snapped more than 500 images of the massive cephalopod before it broke free after snagging itself on a hook. They also recovered one of the giant squid's two longest tentacles, which severed during its struggle.

The photo sequence, taken off Japan's Ogasawara Islands in September 2004, shows the squid homing in on the baited line and enveloping it in "a ball of tentacles."

Tsunemi Kubodera of the National Science Museum in Tokyo and Kyoichi Mori of the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association report their observations this week in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

"Architeuthis appears to be a much more active predator than previously suspected, using its elongated feeding tentacles to strike and tangle prey," the researchers write.

They add that the squid was found feeding at depths where no light penetrates even during the day."

Check out the link for the full story and more on the history of the Giant Squid!

This post seems like a fitting one to share one of my all-time favorite poster images. It was created by the great Disney Imagineers and can be seen in the book Walt Disney Imagineering: A Behind the Dreams Look at Making the Magic Real.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Tomorrowland Poster
Image courtesy of Walt Disney Imagineering.

If anybody knows where I can get a large-scale poster of the above image, please contact me. I think I see the Nautilus now!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Disneyland will print them for you in three sizes, along with the posters for their other old-school rides. There are computer kiosks in some of the stores, and in that gallery in New Orleans Square above the entrance to Pirates of the Caribbean.

Chad Kerychuk said...

Cool. Thanks for the info! I've never been to Disneyland unfortunately, but when I do, I'll be sure to head over to those kiosks and check them out!