For the first time a robotic camera caught a pic of a 'live' giant squid in it's natural habitat. The camera was just over a mile down when the pic was taken off Japan's coast. Apparently bait was used to lure it and when the line was reeled back in a 18 foot piece of tentacle came with it. The fellow interviewed said the tentacle seemed to still be alive as he could feel it suctioning on his hand. It was said that Giant Squid can be as tall as a 6 storey building, they can weigh up to 2,000 lbs and the diameter of one eye can be 10 inches. YIKES That is quite extraordinary when you think about it.

This was a very cool capture indeed. They showed the footage on the news and it was quite amazing to see. I caught the tale end of the report so not sure if more info was provided and I hope I relayed the info I heard correctly. I have always been interested in the mysteries of our oceans. I can only imagine how many different creatures there are in the deep depths which we have yet to discover. =)

I read the AP story on this. It was really cool, I didn't get to see any of the pictures though, I wish they had posted at least one with the story. It's just wild that there really are squids that are that big. I've always liked watching the nature show's where they went down into the ocean like that, as a kids we always liked watching the Jacques Cousteau specials.

Ya it's amazing to think they can get that size. To think what might be in the depths that we don't even know exists is fascinating and spooky at the same time. Would love to see technology advance enough to go even deeper than they can today. I'll take a look around and see if any links to papers here have a pic. =)

I wouldn't be surprised if they were incapable of comic up to the surface anyway. The pressure a kilometre or so down would be immense, and compared to the pressure at the surface...bad things would happen...

Some deep-sea (really deep-sea) fish have all but exploded due to the drop in pressure when they've been reeled up to the surface.

Mind you...probably a good thing they stay down that far, eh? =)

That is an interesting point Dutch, it may well be the reason certain species (known and unknown) remain at such depths? I believe Giant Squid are capable of surviving varied depths including levels closer to the surface though, but their natural habitat remains hundreds to thousands of feet below. Specimens have been caught in commercial fishing nets and the few that have washed ashore were intact. Certainly those squid could well have been expired prior to being ensnared in the nets so pressure no longer had an effect. There are also the eye witness accounts of fisherman who claim to have seen a giant squid doing battle with a sperm whale. If those accounts are to believed it certainly suggests Giant Squid navigate beyond the deep. Actually whales have washed ashore with giant suction marks on their bodies lending truth to the accounts battles occur, but at what depth who knows?

Perhaps they remain at the depths they do because of the lower oxygen levels in the water? There have been species captured that where observed in controlled environments and it was found they parished when introduced in water with higher oxygen levels. It may be Giant Squid can adapt to higher levels abliet only for short periods of time? It is just so fascinating to know that remarkable species like the Giant Squid exist and the potential for new discovery continues to increase as we advance in knowledge and technology. I'm with you though it is likely a good thing that some remain as far down as they do.

Renee if you go to the CNN site there is a photo and video clip of the live Giant Squid that the Japanese scientist recently obtained. =)

I have always found this subject to be fascinating! The fact that we have only been able to go down so far in to the ocean, thus only revealing a small margine of what may exsist there is incredible to me. It does make you wonder what else may be down there yet undiscovered.