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Subscribe to RSSScientists say they have captured video of a giant squid in its natural habitat deep in the ocean for the first time. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
The world's first moving images of a giant squid living in its natural habitat have been captured by a team of scientists more than half a mile below the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
The ghostly pictures of the 10-foot-long giant squid were recorded from a state-of–the-art submersible carrying a three-person team of Japanese zoologist Tsunemi Kubodera, a camera operator and the submersible’s pilot, who made around 100 dives during an expedition last summer.
Although small by giant squid standards – the largest ever caught measured 59 feet – it was the first time a live giant squid had been caught on video deep in the ocean.
Kubodera, from Japan's National Museum of Nature and Science, credited the success to the submersible’s silence and hi-tech lighting.
"A giant squid would never appear before a pool of light, that possibility is extremely slim", he told NBC News. "That's why we had to use lights that they wouldn't be able to detect. In fact, they're lights even humans wouldn't be able to see either."
“If you try to approach making a lot of noise, using bright lights, then the squid won't come anywhere near you," he added. “So we sat there in the pitch black, using a near-infrared light invisible even to the human eye, waiting for the giant to approach.''
'It was stunning'
On one dive in July 2012, near the Ogasawara islands, 620 miles south of Tokyo, they finally had their close encounter more than 2,000 feet down and followed the creature even deeper.
“This was the first time for me to see with my own eyes a giant squid swimming,'' Kubodera said. “It was stunning. I couldn't have dreamt that it would be so beautiful. It was such a wonderful creature.”
NHK/NEP/Discovery Channel via Reuters
A giant squid is seen in this video still talken near the Ogasawara Islands in July 2012.
The squid was missing its characteristic two longest tentacles – and scientists don’t know why. Marine biologists said if that pair of tentacles had been intact, the creature would probably have measured up to 23 feet long.
Kubodera’s deep-sea expedition was the culmination of a 10-year project by Japanese broadcaster NHK to capture pictures of the mysterious creature in its habitat. An ultra-sensitive high-definition camera was developed to operate at the ocean depths, using special light that was invisible to the sensitive eyes of the giant squid.
NHK will air its video footage in Japan in a prime-time documentary entitled "Legends of the Deep: Giant Squid" on Jan. 13. It will also be shown on the Discovery Channel on Jan. 27.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Huge squid. It was discovered that the lobster never grew old. They could be killed by predation poison or disease but they had never ending cell regeneration. I wonder if the squid also has this regeneration genetic code.
Probably not, since we've found lots of dead ones. I suppose they all could have died of disease, but arthropods like lobsters are very far from squid genetically.
Awesome! But as stated...a 10 footer. Imagine one 6 times the size.
First pic? Didn't monsterquest do this already? Fact checker FAIL
Not first picture, first RECORDING. As in, they took a video capture of this thing.
Commenter fail. Though if it's any consolation, you've got plenty of company.
Isn't this where our human instincts kick in and we kill it for no reason?
We had to work this hard to find it; you'd better have a reason to kill it!
I mean, lunch is a perfectly fine reason, but we have to have standards, you know.
wonderful discovery.now if they would just stop killing whales.
Hopefully one day they can put a tracking device on one
Nancy Pelosi appears to be a good swimmer.
I could beat that squid up in hand-to-hand undersea combat.
That's cause you are Chesty Puller... OOOORAH
You mean hand-to-tentacle... and it has you thoroughly outgunned :p
hahahaha
Even if he was completely wrapped up, Chesty Puller would just eat his way out. And this is all before breakfast.
There are a lot of really dumb, very uneducated people on this board. For one, a giant squid would taste nothing like the tiny "calamari" that is served in a restaurant. Two, this is a huge, very significant scientific advancement because these giant squids have washed up on shore for years and no one has ever seen one alive in it's own natural habitat. This was a huge expedition and took years of research and scientific advancements to pull off. And thirdly, these Japanese scientists are not just people looking to kill something and take it back to their country. My father is a marine biologist and the experiments they do with animals is to learn about them, definitely not to make money and most certainly not to hurt the species of animals they are studying. Also, good job on the idiots who turned a nice, scientific discovery into yet another ridiculous political debate. Way to be a self involved american.
People of the earth, please listen, our oceans and seas are being over fished to the point where soon there will be very little sea life left. Should we not be good stewarts of this planet we call our home and leave these creatures alone, and let them live their lives ? Otherwise what legacy shall we leave our children and their children in the future.
Not to worry, fish farming technology is getting better every decade!
And now we even have genetically modified salmon made specifically for eating! It's a bright, tasty future for the future of carnivores!
The good book says in the ten comandments, Thou shall not kill. It doesn't say Thou shall not kill anything but other humans. Humans can live healthy, happy, life , with good karma by eating a vegetarian diet. We do not need to eat flesh to survive, this has been proven scientifically. A good book to read on this is called forks over knives...
Unfortunately, the Ten Commandments does not say anything about off-topic stupid people.
It was in the 11th, little known commandment
So if you're agnostic, you're golden, right?
Don't forget the 12th commandment...Thou shall not make an @ss out of yourself using my name.
Ever see History of the World? I think part two, though not sure.
"I bring you 15 (crash).. 10, 10 Commandments.
"squid filmed in natural habitat"
I wouldn't expect to film a giant squid roaming around a golf course.
You must not belong to the EXCLUSIVE clubs.
Lot's of jokes on here about squid, but seriously, I hope they don't start killing and eating these beautiful creatures. Seems like Japan is all about decimating the planet's ocean creatures unnecessarily.
Why is there so much concern that they might be killed for food? What if it turns out they're perfectly healthy to eat and there's a good population of them to take from? Eating animals for food is pretty much the most legitimate form of killing there is, and I'm confused that so many people reflexively rush to protect a new species from any possibility of being legitimately fished for food, never mind all the comments pre-emptively condemning Japan for driving them to extinction (very unlikely, considering how hard they are to find).
What a beautiful critter!! I hope they are left alone and only observed without disturbing their habitat as these scientists did.
Animals feel pain just as we do. We should not kill living creatures with faces. This will bring you very bad karma and bad health. Just put yourself in their place, how would you like to be farmed, butchered and eaten by giants ?
With faces? lol
I have excellent karma and health, and I eat meat with every meal. I'm guessing either I'm an amazingly lucky exception, or you're a crazy person.
Also, what qualifies as a "face"? Because those little bubble spouts and eye stalks on crabs totally shouldn't count. And the squid, seriously, it's just a pair of eyes and then the body. No face there.
From the picture.... it looks like it needs to be taken to Rick Dale on American Restoration, and sandblasted and repainted!
Our oceans and seas and lakes and rivers are being over fished, soon their will be nothing left...What is so hard to understand about that ? Stop the killing ... Let them live...Let they live...The Asian peoples must stop killing whales also. It makes me want to cry, these innocent creatures, they have a right to live just as all living creations do...
And we have a right to kill and eat other animals just like all living creations do. Do you think those animals in the oceans and rivers and seas are vegetarians?
The right to live extends as long as the food chain. Sorry fishies, but evolution has spoken and the loser is you.
It is my firm belief that the human race, at its present rate of over population and relentless consumption of just about everything on the planet will soon come to the point where we shall be the one's who shall be harvested. Is'nt karma a bitch. You reap what you sow...
And it is my firm belief that your theory is completely empty speculation without regard for fact or reason, not least of which is the idea that humans are going to become a food source themselves.
It shall come not by some large atomic blast, but on the contrary, a very, very tiny man made,engineered deadly virus. Remember the movie "The Andromeda Strain" ?
Do you remember how that was a movie and nothing like that has ever happened in real life?
Besides, if you're going to go on a lunatic rant about Apocalypse scenarios, you may as well think big: toss in an alien invasion or a robot uprising. Or an alien invasion that PROMPTS a robot uprising! Yeah, that would be cool!
first thought: REAPERS!
http://smcpeek.umwblogs.org/files/2012/04/images-1.jpg
on a more scientific note, pretty amazing stuff!
I am not sure what this is but here is the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_mzN6tvAZs
If this is an Architeuthidae at 10 feet long it's only a baby, but still a first for video.
And this Japanese team does have credibility for this to be real.
This is awesome! There has been only a few times that a giant squid has been caught and the body still intact when scientist get it. They turn to goo pretty quick! I have seen ( I beleive) the same group of scientist that were given an intact one and the footage of them examining it all laid out was incrediable! These creatures are HUGE and OMG scary looking. Old saying: "Don't go looking for trouble" these my friends are trouble with a capital T. The damage they can create is amazing. This may finally prove all those tales, myths and legends of monstors of the deep have some truth behind them.
And with a tracking device attatched, the age old question is answered, no we are not alone....
That picture could be a 1 foot squid
My brother, Alec Cunningham was the captain on the research vessel, The Alucia, that provided the transport, submarines, and housed these scientists. Pretty amazing, as he said they dropped a huge sperm whale carcass to bait this thing.
My brother Alec, who drove the boat they used, The Alucia, said they picked up a 2 ton sperm whale carcass in Tokyo to bait this thing, drug it from the boat, dropped it down deep. Apparently it feeds on whale. Alec is the captain of The Alucia, which is a research vessell equipped with submarines, radars, helicopter, tenders, and anything needed for the Discovery Channel to travel on it all last summer.