Yes, Virginia, there is a Giant Squid

Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote the editor of the New York Sun in 1897 and asked whether Santa Claus was real. The answer to her query entitled "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" written by Francis Pharcellus Church became a classic. But if Virginia were alive today, might she be wondering if other legendary stories are real? We know now that the answer to one such story might be entitled "Yes, Virginia, there is a Giant Squid."

On September 28, 2005, the announcement came that Japanese zoologists had snapped the first pictures of a giant squid. It measured 26 ft. long. This was accomplished by Tsunemi Kubodera of the National Science Museum in Tokyo and Kyoichi Mori of the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association. Congratulations to this team! See the pictures they took here.

These strange creatures lurk in the ocean depths and have fueled mankind's speculation for the past 2,000 years. Only a few juveniles have washed ashore. Tiny babies have been captured and kept alive for a short time. Early sailors knew them as sea monsters. The Giant Squid is otherwise known as the genus, Architeuthis, the name being given to it by Jappetus Steenstrup in 1857. It means "ruling" or "chief" squid. Very little else is known about the massive creature beyond its name. No one knows anything about its mating habits or whether it lives a solitary life.

Scientists who specialize in the study of cephalopods, which include the Giant Squid, are called Teuthologists; and as they develop new equipment and techniques, new squid species are being discovered. Presently, ten species of large squid are numbered among the 200 different squid and octopus species. But as far as anyone knows, none of these large species come close in size to the Giant Squid. Just how big are they?

Based on pieces of Giant Squid carcasses found in sperm whale stomachs, they might grow to 100 ft. The largest reported so far was nearly 60 ft. counting the length of the tentacles. This squid has a beak-like mouth encased in muscle that is strong enough to cut through a steel cable. It has five pairs of arms with one pair that is thinner and longer than the others. These two remind me of cowboy lassos. They are like long ropes each having a flattened end covered on one side with suckers. With these, the Giant Squid grabs and pulls its prey to its mouth. The other tentacles, which compare in size to large Anaconda snakes, are lined with 200-300 suckers in two rows. Each sucker has a sharpened ring around it like "teeth." The Giant Squid propels itself by siphoning water through a funnel-like structure from the front of its body to the back. Its average weight is estimated to be up to 660 lbs., and it has the largest eye in the animal kingdom of up to 18" in diameter. Giant Squid are carnivorous and one of the fish it is known to hunt is the Hoki fish, which grow to 2-3 feet long.

Where would one go to find a Giant Squid? They could be found anywhere in any ocean. Scientists do know that they live below 3,300 ft. or 1,000 meters because large squid have been brought up in the nets of deep-sea trawlers. Beaks and pieces of Giant Squid are often found in sperm whale stomachs, so perhaps off the coast of New Zealand would be a good place to look since the sperm whale hunts there. New Zealand waters may be a breeding ground for the Giant Squid as well.

In 1861, the French steamer Electon traveled off the coast of the Canary Islands when the crew spotted what looked like a sea monster with arms and a tail. Full out war was declared on the monster with cannons and muskets fired, then harpoons thrown. They managed to get a rope on its tail, but the flesh of the creature could not withstand the pressure of the rope which cut through it. They took the tail back to the French Consul at Tenerife and a report eventually found its way to the French Academy of Sciences where one member declared this was against the laws of nature.

Perhaps the most spectacular of ferocious battles in the sea are between the contenders of Giant Squid vs. whales. Four-inch sucker marks have been observed scaring the hide of whales from these encounters. In 1965, a Soviet whaler happened upon a squid and 40-ton whale battle which ended in a draw. Both creatures died, the whale from the tentacles' strangle-hold around its throat and the squid from being cut in half by the whale.

In the 1930's, a Royal Norwegian Naval tanker, the Brunswick, was attacked three times by a Giant Squid. Like a dog chasing a car, the squid pulled alongside of the ship, matching its speed. Suddenly, giant tentacles grabbed the ship's hull, encircling it, but unable to get a good grip on the steel surface, they would slide off. The squid eventually fell into the ship's propellers and died.

One of the most disturbing reports about Giant Squid comes from an unconfirmed story that happened during WWII. A British Admiralty trawler was anchored off the Maldive Islands in the Indian Ocean. A member of the crew by the name of A. G. Starkey was on deck alone when he saw something in the water lying alongside the ship. A huge unblinking eye gradually surfaced and focused upon him. He realized it was a large squid. Walking the length of the ship, Starkey calculated from tail to tip of tentacles, the squid was over 175 ft. long. Perhaps this kind of encounter is what started the ancient legend of sea monsters pulling a ship down.

One other unconfirmed report from WWII says that survivors of a sunken ship were attacked by a Giant Squid that ate one of the sailors. However, human/Giant Squid encounters are probably extremely rare as scientist think warm water at the surface of the sea is fatal for the Giant Squid. Their blood does not carry oxygen well at the higher temperatures and they suffocate. These are deep-sea creatures unable to survive at surface pressures.

Among those who are searching for the Giant Squid are New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. They are attempting to capture a baby Giant Squid and raise it until it reaches about 10 ft. long including tentacles. Others are the scientists at the United States' National Museum of Natural History who are assisted by the National Marine Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The National Museum contains 100,000 specimens of squid from around the world.

3/31/08 UPDATE: A giant squid has been preserved using the plastination technique and has gone on display in Paris at the Museum of Natural History. Read the news article here.

Sources:
In Search of Giant Squid
The Giant Squid
Squid Blog by Tony Blow and Jen Pottinger
In Search of the Red Demon
Giant Squid at Wikipedia