On the other hand, when they wash ashore, the squids can be bloated with water, appearing bigger than they really are.īecause tentacles and arms fall off or, alternatively, can be stretched out, scientists often use mantle length as the best measure of a squid's actual size. Sometimes their tentacles or arms have fallen off, or have been eaten by other animals while afloat in the ocean. Almost everything people know about giant squid comes from specimens washed up on beaches. Unfortunately, the reports of their size are often exaggerated since finding a live giant squid is an extremely rare event. Giant squid are big-but just how big are they? As the camera whirred, the research team pulled a 24-foot (7-meter) squid to the surface alive enabling people around the world to finally see a living, breathing giant squid. The species was first recorded live in 2006, after researchers suspended bait beneath a research vessel off the Ogasawara Islands to try and hook a giant squid. But because the ocean is vast and giant squid live deep underwater, they remain elusive and are rarely seen: most of what we know comes from dead carcasses that floated to the surface and were found by fishermen.īut after years of searching, in 2012 a group of scientists from Japan's National Science Museum along with colleagues from Japanese public broadcaster NHK and the Discovery Channel filmed a giant squid in its natural habitat for the first time.
You’d think such a huge animal wouldn't be hard to miss. Giant squid live up to their name: the largest giant squid ever recorded by scientists was almost 43 feet (13 meters) long, and may have weighed nearly a ton.
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