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Jun 14, 2024 · Along with their prospective colossal squid, the scientists spotted a giant volcano sponge—animals thought to live up to 15,000 years—and dozens of other deep-sea Antarctic species.
- Watch First Footage of Giant Squid Filmed in American Waters
Here Be Monsters: Giant Squid Filmed in America's Backyard....
- Watch First Footage of Giant Squid Filmed in American Waters
Apr 30, 2021 · That sensitivity could explain why giant squids are so hard to find in their natural habitats; by the time a research vehicle reaches a squid's swimming grounds, the squid has long since fled the ...
Sep 29, 2005 · Environment. For the first time, scientists have captured images of a live giant squid--the largest invertebrate in the world--in its natural, deep-sea environment. The digital pictures not only ...
- Overview
- On the hunt
- Tentacle in the darkness
The first video of a giant squid in U.S. waters gives scientists a better understanding of how the little-understood species hunts.
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Watch first-ever video of a giant squid in U.S. waters
NOAA scientists filmed the 10- to 12-foot squid in the the Gulf of Mexico.
When Edie Widder saw the giant squid come into view for the first time, its tentacles splayed as it tried to attack the electronic jellyfish lure in front of the underwater camera, she felt a sense of vindication.
After years of trying to develop ways to observe deep-sea animals, the CEO and senior scientist at the Florida-based Ocean Research and Conservation Association (ORCA), had finally figured out the key. The special camera system she developed, called Medusa, emits a red light invisible to most creatures living in "midnight zone," some 3,280 feet below the ocean's surface, where it’s pitch black.
The new sighting is further proof of concept. On June 19, the Medusa took the first-ever recording of a live giant squid in U.S. waters, about a hundred miles southeast of New Orleans. For Widder, it’s confirmation that the giant squid is not as mysterious as we once thought.
The giant squid sighting came as a surprise to Widder and the other explorers on the team. And its unexpected behavior gives new insight into how it hunts.
"It was incredibly exciting to see that squid actually tracking and hunting the electronic jellyfish," Widder says. It was swimming alongside the lure for a while before it attacked—a surprise because researchers had long expected it hunted by sitting and waiting for prey simply to swim by it.
"Now we're learning the very first we've ever known about how it survives," Widder says.
It was about 20 hours into the recording of Medusa's fifth deployment when scientist Nathan Robinson spotted the giant squid's tentacle, reaching through the dark amid the usual shrimp and other small animals on the screen. Its entire body came into view as it tried grabbing the electronic jellyfish. When it realized it wouldn't make much of a meal, the squid darted away.
The entire interaction lasted less than 30 seconds.
Robinson didn't say anything as he stared at the screen, but the look on his face told Widder he had seen something amazing. She and the others rushed to join him.
The creature was about 10 to 12 feet long—small for a giant squid, which can reach upward of 40 feet. They needed confirmation to be sure of what they had seen. (Related: Could giant squid grow as long as a school bus?)
They were trying to send images of their find to Michael Vecchione, a cephalopod expert at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, but strong squalls had left them without internet. Then lightning literally struck.
As brown and yellow smoke billowed up from the ship's antenna, now laying in pieces across the deck, the team rushed to make sure they hadn't lost the rare footage of the giant squid. It was still intact, and when they were able to get the video to him, Vecchione gave them the confirmation they needed.
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- Jill Langlois
Sep 1, 2005 · An artist's conception of two giant squid in combat with a sperm whale. Scientists often find the remains of the large squid in the whales' stomachs. In addition, marks made by squid suckers have ...
Anatomy. Giant squid have eight arms but use their two long feeding tentacles to seize prey.(Smithsonian Institution) A giant squid’s body may look pretty simple: Like other squids and octopuses, it has two eyes, a beak, eight arms, two feeding tentacles, and a funnel (also called a siphon). But, of course, all of it is much larger!
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Jun 24, 2019 · Here Be Monsters: Giant Squid Filmed in America's Backyard. Watch on. On June 19, Nathan Robinson was on board a research vessel in the Gulf of Mexico, surveying footage taken by the Medusa, a ...
