Has a giant squid ever been filmed alive in the deep sea?
For centuries the giant squid was pure legend, until a golden flash of tentacles was captured on camera in 2004.
The answer
The first photographs of a live giant squid in its natural habitat were taken in 2004 by Japanese researchers Tsunemi Kubodera and Kyoichi Mori at a depth of 900 meters near the Ogasawara Islands. The first video footage followed in 2012, also by Kubodera's team. Giant squid (Architeuthis dux) can reach lengths of up to 13 meters and have the largest eyes in the animal kingdom, measuring up to 27 centimeters in diameter, evolved to detect the faint bioluminescence of predators in the deep twilight zone. Despite their fame, almost everything we know about their behavior comes from fewer than a dozen deep-sea encounters.
Source: Proceedings of the Royal Society B
- giant squid
- deep sea
- cephalopods
More from Ocean & Deep Sea
- How much of the ocean has actually been explored?
- What are hydrothermal vents and how do they support life?
- How do whales communicate across entire ocean basins?
- What are brine pools on the ocean floor?
- What is at the very bottom of the Mariana Trench?
- How do ocean currents regulate global climate?