Andy- Assignment 7

Very little is know about the Giant Squid. They were once depicted as monsters of deep, big enough to destroy and sink a ship. Even to this day only one has ever been caught alive, and that by accident, but until September 30th, 2004, we had never even seen in its natural habitat. Prior to this time all we knew about the Giant Squid was from carcasses that occasionally washed up on beaches. The problem lies in the depth at which the Giant Squid lives. Very few cameras or submarines have made it 3,000 under the surface of the ocean, and very few have encountered this rare creature. The Giant Squid cannot be kept in captivity for the same reason, the change in (and lack of) pressure when one is brought to the surface usually kills it within hours. On September 30th, 2004 researchers from The National Science Museum of Japan and the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association used a camera on a baited line 3,000 deep to take the first photographs of a Giant Squid in its natural habitat. This was a monumental step for marine biology as the Giant Squid is the only mega fauna we have little knowledge of. From these 500+ pictures we scientists deduced that the Giant Squid is actually a predator, rather than the previous theory that it ate what floated in the water towards it. This event, along with other developments in Giant Squid research are changing everything we thought we knew about these organisms. I appreciate the importance of this event in our understanding of the inhabitants and ecosystems of the Earth's oceans.

 One Picture from the 3,000 foot sighting

One of the only living specimen ever found. It washed up on

 the coast of Japan and died over night while tied to a dock.