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In this photo released by Tsunemi Kubodera,a giant squid attacking a bait squid is being pulled up by the research team.
Tsunemi Kubodera, chief of Division of Invertebrate Zoology at the National Science Museum of Japan, with the giant squid
TOKYO, Japan -- 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 24-feet 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 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.”
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.”
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.
The squid, a female, was not fully grown and was relatively small by giant squid standards. The longest one on record is 60 feet, he said.
Kubodera and his team 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.
Until the team’s successes, 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.
Kubodera said whales led his team to the squid. By finding an area where whales fed, he believed he could find the animals. 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 (1,100-2,200 pounds) 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.”
Reader Comments
13 people have commented so far.Wasn't a giant squid filmed last year? I think i saw it on your site. Sean and all I have to add is why kill such an amazing creature???????
- mario · cranston · Dec 22, 2006 @ 10:01am
I don't think it was filmed so to speak.. this same guy I believe just had a camera that snapped photos every 30 seconds or so... so filmed in this case means video and not snap shots... While diving last weekend offshore here my wife was excited about seeing a squid, but it was only about 2" long. :-)
- zito · Hollywood FL USA · Dec 22, 2006 @ 4:14pm
This is the second video of the giant squid. One was filmed earlier this year under water while caught on a hook before escaping
- ed bodde · anaheim, CA USA · Dec 23, 2006 @ 5:04pm
This is great, after centuries of fascination with these amazing creatures, we finally undertand them a bit better!!
- Adushan Pillay · PMB, South Africa · Dec 27, 2006 @ 2:33pm
He looked cool as heck until I saw him dead on the deck of the boat.Figures :[
- Tamara · ohio · Dec 29, 2006 @ 10:10pm
i LOVE the idea of the unknown depths of the ocean. I watched the program on the science channel about the Giant Squid caught in still images. I love this idea. It always fasanated me. Although this one isnt as big as the one I saw on the TV. Its still AWESOME!
- Matt Feher · Pittsburgh USA · Jan 3, 2007 @ 9:35am
Is this another example of Japanese Science expedition - unnessessary death like hose fin Whales in the Southern Ocean - what a shame! Look but don't touch!!
- Becky Griffiths · Uk · Feb 2, 2007 @ 6:06am
The Japanese are only interested in researching marine life if they can turn it into sushi.
- Dave Menzies · Canada · Feb 28, 2007 @ 9:12am
BY killing this animal, we can better study it and learn. People who are so vocal about killing animals should never eat another bite unless its a vegetable. We'll see how long and prosperous your life is without protein from animals and fish. We are the top dog on the planet its out responsibility to study and manage the natural resource of the earth. This means killing some specimens to learn about them.
- Rob Odlin · Scarboro Maine USA · May 29, 2007 @ 3:30pm
the giant squid is one of the animals we have not yet understood and it shocked me they had on a hook maybe they should put a camera on the end of the line instead of a hook maybe they would see more specimens and even new species of animals after all we no very little about the oceans because how deep and vast they are.
- brian · missouri,usa · Jun 22, 2007 @ 4:40am
i cant believe i missed this last year but i want to see the live video of the capture. and by the way one thing that makes me mad everyone still says the giant squid is the largest when just a little while ago they caught a colossal squid in antartica that indicates that the colossal squid are the largest. and another thing that fascinates me about this picture of the giant they fished for it right? so maybe the age old tales of it dragging ships to the bottom of the ocean are not as exggerated as once thought i mean they pulled this thing up from how deep? what if ancient mariners fished while they sailed and caught giant, and colossal squid surely one r two 40-70 ft. long could toppl the ship over by pulling the mast. and even if those parts of the stories were never true the squid could still attack the ship and its crew.
- justin rutkowsi · Genoa, IL, U.S. · Oct 25, 2007 @ 7:43am
this is an exciting event for marine biologists, ut i would like to see the live video. maybe with this new knowledge that if you catch a giant squid you can haul it up. maybe the ancient mariner stories werent as fictional as once thought maybe when they fished they caught giant squid and they attacked their ships. one more thing for those who dont know and for those who keep saying it the giant squid is not the largest the colossal squid for in arctic and antarctic waters is now. it has shorter arms but amuch larger mantle feeding tentacles and bigger eyes and beak.
- justin · U.S. · Oct 25, 2007 @ 7:50am
this is exciting learing about squids iam studying at school about this maybe i can use this for my school report
- grace · florida miami · Dec 4, 2009 @ 5:25pm