Back in the sixties, the existence of the Giant Squid was actively
challenged by academe in much the same way that Bigfoot is today.
The arrival of a body finally ended that debate. Unsurprisingly,
getting a picture is a huge challenge and this item retells just how
difficult it was. We can expect as much for any large creature out
there, all of whom must be naturally shy.
DNA work is now ending the Bigfoot story and someday soon we will
have extensive film work with a Bigfoot family performing on camera.
All the signs are there to suggest that this will be possible. I
think that they will respond well to seeing themselves on camera.
At least we are \well begun in capturing images from the deep.
Giant Squid Filmed
in Ocean Depths for 1st Time
By MALCOLM FOSTER
Associated Press
After a hundred dives
deep into the Pacific, scientists and broadcasters say they have
captured video images of a giant squid in its natural habitat deep in
the ocean for the first time.
The three-meter
(nine-foot) invertebrate was filmed from a manned submersible during
one of 100 dives in the Pacific last summer in a joint expedition by
Japanese public broadcaster NHK, Discovery Channel and Japan's
National Museum of Nature and Science.
NHK released
photographs of the giant squid this week ahead of Sunday's show about
the encounter. The Discovery Channel will air its program on Jan. 27.
The squid, which was
inexplicably missing its two longest tentacles, was spotted in waters
east of Chichi Island about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) south of
Tokyo, NHK said. The crew followed it to a depth of 900 meters (2,950
feet).
Little is known about
the creature because its harsh environment makes it difficult for
scientists to conduct research. Specimens have washed ashore on
beaches but never before have been filmed in their normal habitat
deep in the ocean, researchers say.
Japanese zoologist
Tsunemi Kubodera, who was on board the submersible at the time of the
encounter, was able to lure the giant squid with a one-meter
(three-foot) -long diamond squid.
All the lights from
the submersible were turned off while they waited. At a depth of 640
meters (2,100 feet), the giant squid appeared and wrapped its arms
around the bait, eating it for over 20 minutes before letting go.
"What we were
able to gain from this experience was the moment of the giant squid
attacking its prey — we were able record that," said Kubodera,
who has been researching the giant squid since 2002.
Other scientists
involved in the expedition this summer, which logged 400 hours of
dives, were American oceanographer and marine biologists Edith Widder
and Steve O'Shea from New Zealand.
NHK said a
high-definition camera was developed for the project that could
operate deep in the ocean and used a special wavelength of light
invisible to the giant squid's sensitive eyes.
Kubodera said
scientific research, technology and the right lure all came together
to make the encounter possible, and that this case will shed more
light on deep-sea creatures going forward.
After more than a
decade of going out to sea in search of the giant squid, he relished
the moment he came face-to-face with it.
"It appeared only
once, out of 100 dives. So perhaps, after over 10 years of some kind
of relationship I've built with the giant squids, I feel, perhaps, it
was the squid that came to see me."
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