Giant monsters have invaded America's coastal waters. Actually, they've always been there,
legendary creatures who's very existence was long thought to be nothing more than myth.
And now, scientists have documented the first live giant squid off the coast of America.
In stunning video, scientists documented a monster approaching one of their surveillance cameras
2,000 feet (610 meters) under water. Hopeful to get footage of rare deep water animals,
the expedition used a device known as an 'e-jelly', or electronic jelly fish-
a simple set of lights that mimicke the bio-luminescence of deep sea life.
For the first few days the team got nothing but curious shrimp and other random fish approaching
the lure and quickly swimming away- but then suddenly, there it was, a creature straight
out of legend. Approaching the electronic bait with astonishing speed, a monster squid zooms out
of the darkness and extends its massive arms in anticipation of snagging a kill. However,
the highly intelligent animal clearly realizes something is wrong and slows down,
probing the e-jelly with several tentacles. Then, realizing it was not a delicious jellyfish to eat,
the gargantuan squid takes off into the inky darkness with the same astonishing
speed it had approached. In the blink of an eye it disappears into the dark.
The scientists hurriedly transmitted the video to squid experts, eager to find out exactly what they
had on their hands. The fact that the squid had approached directly head on made it difficult to
measure, and thus difficult to identify. Was this truly a legendary giant squid, or was it merely
one of the larger, but not quite giant, species of squid that live in deep waters all over the world?
Using known size proportions of the objects in frame, notably the e-jelly lure and attaching
appendages, experts were able to get a rough estimate of size- at least 10
to 12 feet long (3 to 3.7 meters). Then an expert who viewed the video after having it
emailed directly from the boat confirmed it, the crew had a giant squid on their hands.
This was the first confirmation of something scientists had suspected for years-
massive mythical monsters do in fact prowl the deep waters off America's coasts.
This is a photo of a giant squid, and if you were in that photo, you'd be smaller than the
massive bell that makes up the top half of the squid's body. A giant squid could engulf you
whole with its tentacles, with enough room to ensnare several more of your friends or family.
Giant squids eat by ensnaring their prey with those massive tentacles,
each as strong as a fully grown python. Typically a squid has two extra long feeding tentacles which
can shoot out up to 33 feet (10 meters) to snare prey. Once it's snatched prey, the tentacles wrap
around it and secure a grip with hundreds of suckers which are rimmed with sharp teeth.
The suckers not only create suction to help hold on to prey, but the teeth embed themselves
in the flesh of its prey and ensure that if the suction fails, its grip will still hold.
Now that the giant squid has you in its feeding tentacles, it reels you in like a fisherman from
the deepest depths of hell, and straight into a smothering embrace made up of eight giant
arms. The arms are also lined with 2-inch wide suckers, which like the feeding tentacles also
have sharp teeth to ensure grip, and exist for only one purpose- to reel in prey to its final,
horrific conclusion. With the strength of an elephant, the giant squid drags unwitting prey
into a death hug from which there is no escape, but it doesn't squeeze prey to death- instead
it drags it further into its enveloping embrace and closer to its yawning mouth. There, a massive
beak the size of a human hand is waiting to tear prey apart. But this isn't like a puny bird beak,
a giant squid beak is so powerful that it can actually cut straight through a steel cable.
Just think what it would do to your pathetic bones. It uses that powerful beak to tear its prey
into bite-sized pieces, but the nightmare isn't over yet, because as the giant squid swallows
your flesh, it uses a tongue lined with rows upon rows of teeth to turn you into ground beef.
This animal is an absolute nightmare, one of the ocean's perfect killing machines. For hunting prey
it uses eyes the size of dinner plates, which just so happen to be the largest in the animal kingdom.
Next time you're sitting down for dinner, look down at your plate and imagine going for a swim
only to come face to face with a giant squid's soulless eye, staring straight back at you like
the t-rex scene in Jurassic Park. But while t-rex might chomp you in two and give you the mercy of a
quick death, a giant squid will tear you to pieces bit by bit as it chows down on you at its leisure.
These massive 1 foot (30 centimeters) diameter eyes aren't just for haunting your nightmares
though, they serve a very vital purpose. A giant squid's preferred habitat is deep,
cold waters, where light doesn't penetrate. At these massive depths,
it's perpetual twilight- but many animals have found a way to hunt, communicate, and signal
partners with the help of bio-luminescence. This amazing ability involves the reaction of specific
chemicals within the body of an animal, which in turn can lead to extraordinary displays of light.
You've probably seen photos of bio-luminescent algae from blooms in the United States or China,
but many fish and invertebrates use it as well. These amazing displays of light are typically
to signal sexual partners or serve unknown purposes, but some animals use them to hunt by
actually faking the bioluminescence of different animals. Giant squids don't need to fake it-
they actively seek out anything foolish enough to give off light and devour it. Those massive eyes
can detect even the faintest source of light, and lead the giant squid straight to a kill.
Imagine living in a pitch black world, where your only hope of attracting a mate
was to create your own light- knowing that every second you spend glowing is
another second a massive nightmare animal could be zooming in to rip you to shreds.
The speed of the giant squid is one of the most astonishing characteristics of the animal.
Nobody knows exactly how fast giant squids can go- in fact, we don't know much about them
because they're so difficult to study given the incredible depths they spend most of their time
at. Note that we say “most”, because giant squid have been spotted in shallower waters
for hundreds of years, but nobody truly believed these fish tales and the giant
squid was relegated to the realm of seagoing myth. But how fast are these creatures? Well,
since nobody has had the opportunity to clock a giant squid, we can only make a guess based off
squid species we have studied extensively, and the best estimates put the giant squid at being
able to move at just over 20 miles an hour. However, these big squids can likely put on
massive bursts of speed to aid in their ambush hunting, so top speed remains unknown for now.
Giant squids generate these massive bursts of speed by actually pumping water through their
mantle. To accomplish this incredible locomotion technique, a squid expands its mantle and allows
water to fill a special cavity inside of it. Then, it contracts muscles arranged around the mantle,
which increases pressure inside the mantle and expels water with great force. This acts much like
an underwater jet engine, propelling the squid along with massive bursts of speed. It can even
funnel the direction of the expelled water, much like thrust vectoring on a modern fighter jet,
to allow it to make hairpin turns at high speed- perfect for snatching up underwater prey. This
mode of underwater locomotion is so efficient, the US navy has actually studied it for years,
and recently developed unmanned underwater vehicles that use a similar form of propulsion.
But just how big do giant squids get?
That is yet another difficult question to answer, as these animals have only recently
been observed alive. Most of what we know about giant squids comes from the very few specimens
that wash up on beaches from time to time, and often these bodies are in very bad shape.
Tentacles and arms often either fall off or are eaten by other marine animals,
so instead scientists measure the mantle- the large bell shaped upper part of the
squid's 'head'. To date, the largest mantle ever recorded was a whopping 7.4
feet (2.25 meters) in length, meaning that when alive this was truly a monstrous animal.
However, recently scientists have resorted to using beak size to record length.
Since scientists now have enough data to correlate beak size with body size, they're able to record
giant squid lengths from one of the places where evidence of their existence is most often
discovered- the stomachs of whales. Sperm whales specifically, who are well known squid hunters and
likely the giant squid's only predator, other than a bigger, hungrier giant squid of course.
Since the beaks are incredibly tough and survive the digestion process, scientists are able to
use them to get an estimated size of the squid it belonged to- and this has led to measurements of
squid as big as a mind-blowing 66 feet (20 meters) long. That's bigger than a school bus, and a squid
that size would likely happily devour the entire contents of one if it ever got its hands on it.
So where do these monsters live, and is there anywhere in the world you can swim
safe from the potentially gruesome fate that awaits you if you came across a particularly
hungry giant squid? The answer to that question is almost certainly no, nowhere is safe from the
giant squid. In a bit of good news though, they are rare in polar or tropical areas, preferring
a mid-range of temperatures, with Australia and New Zealand being a hotspot for giant squid.
Another place to avoid would be the American and Canadian east coast, as well as the northern coast
of europe and the southern tip of Africa where the most giant squid carcasses have been discovered.
However, we know very little about giant squid, and these are just the places where their bodies
have been frequently discovered washing up on shore. The truth is that the giant squid likely
lives just about everywhere, making it one of the hardiest and most prolific species in the world-
some scientists estimate there's over a million of them out there in the darkest depths.
Incredibly, these massive animals are estimated to have a lifespan of just around 5 years. Scientists
get this estimate by looking at the growth rings on statoliths from recovered giant squid bodies.
These are small mineralized masses that the squid uses to help it maintain its balance,
and every year that the squid ages it adds a new ring. This incredibly short lifespan for such
a large animal means that the giant squid grows very fast, and that itself means only one thing:
it's a voracious hunter. Giant squids need a massive amount of energy to continue growing,
so these animals are likely highly opportunistic predators, snatching up any prey they can find.
But giant squid live at very great depths- the only live giant squids ever documented were both
at over 2,000 feet of depth- so naturally this means you're safe from a giant squid attack,
right? Well, while there has never been a documented death by giant squid,
there's two things to consider. First, a giant squid is so large and powerful,
that if it attacked a human there would likely be little evidence left of said attack. After
snatching up a human swimmer it would probably drag it down to the dark depths to enjoy its
food in peace- try and not think about that next time you're out for a swim. Second though is the
sheer number of sailors from ages past who have told tales of being attacked by huge squid and
octopuses. For centuries we wrote these stories off as tall tales, but perhaps there is truth
behind these fish stories. After all, the Humboldt squid, which can grow slightly bigger than a man,
is well documented to attack swimmers and divers, and also lives and hunts at great depths like the
giant squid. But the Humboldt squid frequently surfaces to hunt in much shallower waters as
well... meaning the next time you go for a dip in the ocean there might be 33 foot long tentacles
waiting to wrap around you and drag you down to a horrible death in the deep, dark ocean.
Now go check out Scientists find best evidence the
loch ness monster actually exists? Or click this other video instead.