Researchers get 1st video of Giant Squid-then kill it

[blitzpackage]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/12/22/giant.squid.ap/index.html

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.

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The captured squid was caught using a smaller type of squid as bait, and was pulled into a research vessel "after putting up quite a fight," 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 said.:doh:

[PleaseBlitz]

Sushi for lunch sounds good.

[zoony]

Where is the link to the video on that page?

Thanks for posting, fascinating stuff

[blitzpackage]

Where is the link to the video on that page?

Thanks for posting, fascinating stuff

It wasn't released I guess:whoknows:

[SkinsOrlando]

http://today.reuters.com/tv/videoChannel.aspx?storyId=0e4daf2c9503387b6a614482bc1d5d8a4ae79972&rpc=23

here's the vid

[blitzpackage]

http://today.reuters.com/tv/videoChannel.aspx?storyId=0e4daf2c9503387b6a614482bc1d5d8a4ae79972&rpc=23

here's the vid

Nice! Thanks.

[zoony]

http://today.reuters.com/tv/videoChannel.aspx?storyId=0e4daf2c9503387b6a614482bc1d5d8a4ae79972&rpc=23

here's the vid

"This legendary animal, now pickled in a blue container behind me, ... "

:rotflmao:

(btw, thanks for posting the vid)

[@DCGoldPants]

Japanese researchers catch giant squid

ERIC TALMADGE

Associated Press

TOKYO — 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 seven meters 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 Mr. 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.”

Related to this article

Enlarge Image

Photo released by Japan's National Science Museum shows a giant squid attacking a bait squid being pulled up by a research team off the Ogasawara Islands, south of Tokyo, on Dec. 4, 2006. (Tsunemi Kubodera/National Science Museum of Japan/AP)

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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 said.

He said the squid, a female, was not fully grown and was relatively small by giant squid standards.

“The longest one on record is 18 metres,” he said.

Mr. Kubodera and his team found the squid on Dec. 4 off the remote island of Chichijima, which is about 960 kilometres 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 study 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 500 to 1,000 kilograms 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 metres.

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.”

[Zen-like Todd]

The headline should be "Researchers catch not-so-giant squid"

[CaptChaos86]

Calamari anyone?

[Midnight Judges]

The headline should be "Researchers catch not-so-giant squid"

I was thinking the same thing. That was more of a large squid. Definitely not giant.

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

How did they kill it with such ease? I thought Giant Squid are one of the only creatures that can woop a shark.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

It was a baby giant squid, only 11 feet long.

[chomerics]

The headline should be "Researchers catch not-so-giant squid"

haha, true. It is nice to see the thing in the wild though, and there have been many attempts to find one under water.

[blitzpackage]

I was thinking the same thing. That was more of a large squid. Definitely not giant.

The headline should be "Researchers catch not-so-giant squid"

Well, technically it is a giant squid:silly:

Plus, "giant" is a relative term. Maybe it was only 11 feet, but someone like Tiny Elvis would probably agree with my thread title.

[Midnight Judges]

I won't be satisfied until I see Giant Squid vs. Giant sperm whale in a pay per view cage match.

[blitzpackage]

I won't be satisfied until I see Giant Squid vs. Giant sperm whale in a pay per view cage match.

:laugh: You mean an aquarium match? I've got $100 on the whale.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Well since sperm whales eat giant squid...

I want to see a giant squid vs a great white.

[Zen-like Todd]

Well since sperm whales eat giant squid...

I want to see a giant squid vs a great white.

I want to see a giant squid versus Rosie O Donnell.

[Destino]

I want to see a giant squid versus Rosie O Donnell.

I thought we already established that whales eat giant squid.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

I thought we already established that whales eat giant squid.

Nice. .

[zoony]

How about a three way cage match between the whale, Rosie, and the squid.

Donald Trump can be the ref.

.....

[Slateman]

Darn it! I wanted to see a squid take on a shark in a cage match

[Raub]

Mr. Kubodera and his team found the squid on Dec. 4 off the remote island of Chichijima, which is about 960 kilometres southeast of Tokyo.

Nothing to do with the story, but that is the island where the incidents portrayed in the book Flyboys took place. It's also where George Bush Sr. was shot down.

[PokerPacker]

Well, technically it is a giant squid:silly:

Plus, "giant" is a relative term. Maybe it was only 11 feet, but someone like Tiny Elvis would probably agree with my thread title.

if its taller than Andre the Giant, then it's a giant.