Really amazing that animals like this still exist and remain a mystery...and there's still the Collasal Squid to be seen alive yet!
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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I feel a bit sorry for the poor bugger - first the researcers had it on the end of the line for over 4 hours. Now any angler will tell you that's a hell of a long time to play a fish...
And then, to add injury to insult, they make off with 5 1/2 m of its tentacle!
Oh well, fried squid anybody?
-------------------- I have plenty of experience in biology. I bought a Tamagotchi in 1998... And... it's still alive.
Registered: Apr 2005
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Well, this clears the way for Channel Five to make 'Extreme Celebrity Giant Calamari Live.'
That's assuming they haven't already made it.
It's either that or 'Hitler's Giant Squid.'
-------------------- "I am an almost extinct breed, an old-fashioned gentleman, which means I can be a cast-iron son-of-a-bitch when it suits me." --Jubal Harshaw
Registered: Feb 2002
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They made a rather bad TV-movie about big squids in the 1990's, with that retard from "LA Law". The acting and visual squid-FX were laughable but the opening sequence, showing two shredded and gutted scuba divers, was frightfully realistic.
I honestly think being caught by one of these is worse than meeting a great white or getting caught in the gears of a combine.
Registered: Aug 1999
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Yes... but why would the bodies of the divers have washed up? Would the beastie not have devoured its prey? Surely they don't make movies suggesting that large sea creatures would attack humans out of some kind of murderous pschological schism...
posted
Especialy not such esteemed directors as Mr Spielberg.
-------------------- I have plenty of experience in biology. I bought a Tamagotchi in 1998... And... it's still alive.
Registered: Apr 2005
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This squid was 900 meters down and no one's ever seen a live one go up to the surface and eat birds or hassle sailors. So where do the old Kraken-stories and other tales and paintings of squid attacks come from? Why did squids supposedly do it then and not now? I'm thinking either A:, they've gotten smarter, just like wood animals shun us nowadays where 15000 years ago they let us stroll up to them, not knowing the scent or sound of a human.
Or B:, the squids never attacked humans in medieval and renaissance times, some sailors just found a few washed-up squids and started fantasizing about one of them hitting a boat.
Registered: Aug 1999
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I can't imagine they're very friendly - but coming up in one piece from 900 meters is a neat trick. Though of course whales do it, so maybe. I'll have to ask my marine biologist wife....
-------------------- Twee bieren tevreden, zullen mijn vriend betalen.
Registered: Oct 2000
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If she does not know, you can bring it up whenever you're losing an argument.
"Yeah well...you did not know about that giant squid thing!"
Oh yeah- it's win/win for you.*
*Win/Win meaning that you'll be sleeping alone on the sofa, at best.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Nim: This squid was 900 meters down and no one's ever seen a live one go up to the surface and eat birds or hassle sailors. So where do the old Kraken-stories and other tales and paintings of squid attacks come from? Why did squids supposedly do it then and not now? I'm thinking either A:, they've gotten smarter, just like wood animals shun us nowadays where 15000 years ago they let us stroll up to them, not knowing the scent or sound of a human.
Or B:, the squids never attacked humans in medieval and renaissance times, some sailors just found a few washed-up squids and started fantasizing about one of them hitting a boat.
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
quote:Originally posted by Nim: This squid was 900 meters down and no one's ever seen a live one go up to the surface and eat birds or hassle sailors. So where do the old Kraken-stories and other tales and paintings of squid attacks come from? Why did squids supposedly do it then and not now? I'm thinking either A:, they've gotten smarter, just like wood animals shun us nowadays where 15000 years ago they let us stroll up to them, not knowing the scent or sound of a human.
Or B:, the squids never attacked humans in medieval and renaissance times, some sailors just found a few washed-up squids and started fantasizing about one of them hitting a boat.
Basically - anything that lives at such depths would probably explosively decompress at sea-level.
They have found SOME giant squids washed up on shore but they are either dead or pretty much dead - how they have come to arrive at higher regions than they live is a mystery. Maybe spat out by a whale!?!
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
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