Is This a GIANT SQUID?

No, it isn't.

No one has ever seen or photographed a giant squid in its natural habitat. And it's driving scientists crazy!

Then how do we know they exist? Over the years, more than 250 dead or dying giant squid have washed ashore. Others get caught in fishing nets. Some leave sucker marks on huge whales, and occasionally, bits and pieces of giant squid turn up in a whale's stomach. Scientists can learn some things from these clues and from smaller species of squid that they've studied, but the habits and behavior of this deep-sea giant remain a mystery.

Giant squid might be quite smart (for invertebrates, that is), since they have well-developed brains. Perhaps they're even smart enough to outsmart the scientists looking for them. Could it be that we've never seen a live giant squid because they don't want to be found?

"To the Ocean Deeps, Where the Kraken Sleeps"

Mysteries of the sea are nothing new. When people first set out in boats five or six thousand years ago, they could only imagine what frightening animals might lurk in the dark, cold depths. To these first ocean explorers, whales and sharks and squid must have seemed like monsters.

In ancient times Norwegian sailors told tales of the kraken, a terrifying creature with many arms that attacked ships. Over the years, seafarers, naval officers, and whalers reported seeing similar beasts gliding through the water or even doing battle with huge whales. Occasionally, the bodies of strange, many-armed creatures washed up on beaches, and people marveled at their amazing size and the reddish "cloaks" they seemed to be wearing.

In the 1800s, scientists began to study the weird washed-up creatures and to read the old sea stories to try to figure out what these monsters might be. Finally, Japetus Steenstrup, a Danish scientist, came to the conclusion that these mysterious beasts were a type of gigantic squid, many times larger than more familiar squids. He named them Architeuthis ("Archie" to its friends), which means "first squid." Today, scientists who study squid are called teuthologists.

A Spineless Wonder

Naming the creature gave it an identity but did not solve the mysteries surrounding it. How big can it get? In which oceans does it live? How deep can it dive? How fast does it move? How does it hunt? How many are there? Still, since the 1800s, scientists have learned a few things about Archie.

Like its smaller squid relatives, giant squid belong to the cephalopod family, which also includes octopuses. Cephalopods have no backbones or other bones, and they are covered with rubbery flesh. Scientists believe the giant squid may grow to 60 feet long, twice the length of a bus, and weigh about a ton. Its eight long, thick arms are lined with barbed suckers. Two even longer tentacles can reach out and clamp down on prey, which the squid then draws into its mouth. Its large, parrotlike (yes, as in the bird!) beak is buried deep in muscle. Inside this powerful beak, tooth-like ridges shred food for the squid to swallow. (Food must pass through the squid's brain to reach its stomach, so the pieces can't be too big!) The eyes of the giant squid are the largest in the animal kingdom-the size of soccer balls-and help it see in the deep ocean, where no sunlight penetrates.

Rather than swimming, the giant squid moves by "jet propulsion." Beneath its head, a short "hose" extends and rotates. Through this, the animal blasts water to push itself backward or forward. Scientists disagree about how fast the squid can move. A lighter-than-water fluid in its tissue gives it neutral buoyancy, which means it can drift silently in the dark water, ready to ambush prey.

While many squid squirt ink to confuse predators, the giant squid has only a small ink sac. However, scientists believe that it can perform some amazing feats of camouflage. Special cells in its skin, called chromatophores, enable it to change color from silver to brown to purplish to red. Some colors may allow the squid to sneak up on prey. Others may be intended to impress that "certain" squid during the mating process.

Squid Squads

Perhaps the most perplexing question-Why are giant squid so hard to find alive?-is still a mystery. But scientists love a challenge. So, no mission is too large for the "squid squads," teams of experts dedicated to finding Archie.

Because they've been stranded on beaches around the world, giant squid probably live in every ocean, most likely in underwater canyons where food is plentiful. Using undersea robots and manned research subs, scientists plunge as far down as they can, hoping to observe the camera-shy squid "at home." World-famous teuthologist Clyde Roper once led an expedition to attach "crittercams" to the heads of huge sperm whales. These whales often enjoy a dinner of tasty squid, and Dr. Roper hoped to get a whale's-eye view of the hunt. He had no such luck (although we now know how the world looks to a whale). Steve O'Shea, another leading squid expert, started small. Hoping to raise a giant squid in captivity, he ventured out night after night to capture baby giants feeding just below the surface of the water. Although he nabbed a batch of babies, each one died within days because of problems determining the right food, light, and water pressure to keep them alive.

The Kraken Lives

So the mystery remains unsolved, and the stories of strange animals in the sea continue. One dark midnight in 2003, the skipper of a 110-foot sailboat crossing the Atlantic Ocean reported that something wrapped its huge, sucker-covered arms around the hull of his boat. It rocked the boat several times, nearly crushing it. Suddenly it vanished, back into the deep.

Copyright Carus Publishing Company Jan 2005
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved