Giant Squid (Architeuthis)

Mighty_Emperor · Nov 8, 2003

Other squid attacks

Squid attacks seem a good opportunity to see live squids - some other reports I tried tracking down online:

The Brunswick

The Brunswick was a 15,000 ton auxiliary tanker owned by the Royal Norwegian Navy. In the 1930's it was attacked at least three times by giant squid. In each case the attack was deliberate as the squid would pull along side of the ship, pace it, then suddenly turn, run into the ship and wrap it's tentacles around the hull. The encounters were fatal for the squid. Since the animal was unable to get a good grip on the ship's steel surface, the animals slid off and fell into the ship's propellers.

http://unmuseum.mus.pa.us/squid.htm

this seems to suggest 3 squid while this suggests one:

Some dismiss the notion of a squid attacking a boat, but that very occurrence has been documented in the 1930's. In fact, it was the Brunswick, an auxiliary tanker in the Royal Norwegian Navy, that was attacked. The giant squid paced the ship, then turned and aggressively attacked the ship. Three times this happened, until the squid, who could not get a good grip on the metal hull, slipped and fell into the propellers. No damage was done to the Brunswick, as its immense size dwarfed the squid. It was quite an amazing occurrence, and it went to show that these creatures are certainly capable of attacking sailing vessels.

http://www.trueauthority.com/cryptozoology/squid.htm

Obviously just a little lack of clarity

Another account of a giant squid attacking a ship is given in the logs of the Brunswick, a Norwegian Trawler. In the logs an account is given of a giant squid attacking this large ship three different times, before the squid finally slid into the ship's propellers and was killed.

http://www.dynamicearth.com/articles/monsters3.htm

So there are logs then?

More detail:

A more recent account occurred in the Pacific between 1930 and 1933. The incident was not reported until 1946 by Arne Gronningsaeter, who was then master of the freighter, Brunswick. He tells the story of a squid swimming along side his ship at a speed of twenty to twenty-five knots, and ramming into the side of the ship. The animal was then caught in the propeller and was ground to pieces (Ellis, 1994).

http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Geyser/5306/architeuthis.htm

there is no other mention of Arne Gronningsaeter (or Gronningsater) online in this context. I assume the reference is to the Ellis is to the book I mentioned above:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140286764/

and gets recommended by Loren Coleman:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/listmania/list-browse/-/2OVXW58TKOXXR/

War stories

This seems a little vague - any other info:

There is at least one report from World War II of survivors of a sunken ship being attacked by a giant squid that ate one of the party

http://unmuseum.mus.pa.us/squid.htm

In World War II, survivors of sunken ships reported being menaced by giant squid in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean.

http://www.darkensouls.com/corner/giantsquid.htm

Other accounts tell of giant squid grabbing men from the waters as ships were sank in World War I and II

Really good article on the whole thing:

http://www.dynamicearth.com/articles/monsters3.htm

Some shipwrecked sailors were allegedly attacked by a giant squid during World War 2 as they floated in their lifeboats. A sailor was said to have been plucked from his boat by a giant tentacle, never to be seen again. However, as with many things found on
the internet, these “reports” should be taken with a grain of salt.

From an interesting study into how practicial it would be for giant squid to be able to attack (note its a PDF):

http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/~biol438/Reports/Squid.PDF

[edit: Ah more 'detail':

During World War 2, a giant squid attacked sailors. Their ship sank, and they drifted in the sea in a small lifeboat, hoping for rescue. In the middle of the night, a huge tentacle came over the side and grabbed a sailor. His friends pulled it off before it dragged him over the side of the lifeboat, but the suckers of the gigantic tentacle put circular wounds on the sailor’s chest. The giant squid stalked them all night long, and sadly, pulled another sailor overboard and ate him.

http://nm.essortment.com/squidgiantlarg_rehq.htm

During the Second World War a giant squid attacked sailors whose ship had sunk and they drifted in a small lifeboat hoping for rescue. In the middle of the night, a huge tentacle came over the side of the lifeboat and grabbed a sailor. His friends managed to pull it off before it dragged him over the side but the suckers of the tentacle had inflicted huge circular wounds on his chest.

The giant squid is said to have stalked them all night and, eventually, it had its way when it managed to pull another sailor overboard to his death.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0203/S00159.htm

a bit of a differnt tale:

Back during World War II, two men in a boat off Newfoundland almost made up part of the diet of a particular squid who worked a tentacle into their large dory. They cut it off with an axe — and that’s about the closest any human has been to a live supersquid.

http://www.bayweekly.com/year02/issueX47/burtonX47.html

Still pretty damn vague though.]

----------------------
Again the reports are the same or very, very vague (respectively) so any other information on these?

----------------------
On a side note it appears global warming may be killing them:

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/18158/newsDate/14-Oct-2002/story.htm

----------------------
Some other links that turned up:

http://www.believe.hostmb.com/giantsquid.htm

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/04/0423_030423_seamonsters.html

http://www.pbs.org/odyssey/odyssey/20020705_log_transcript.html

Emps

Anonymous · Nov 8, 2003

New, live Architeuthis picture comes to light...

Mighty_Emperor · Nov 8, 2003

]

Emps

Anonymous · Nov 8, 2003

Re: Dun-Dun Dun-Dun Dun-Dun Dun-Dun Dun-Dun DUN Dun Dun-Dun

Royal Navy my arse!
American chopper, American scenery... :rolleyes:

Anonymous · Nov 9, 2003

molga parrot said:
New, live Architeuthis picture comes to light...

Molga,

The tragedy of it is, she'd only just had the stoat removed.

Eli

songhrati · Nov 14, 2003

Marine biologist Dr Steve O'Shea is leading the group hoping to lure the huge cephalopod into view by taking advantage of what he believes is an annual migration of the animals to a particular area in New Zealand waters.

I interviewed Dr O'Shea recently for an article and I have to say he is somewhat 'obsessed' by Giant Squids. He told me that his greatest wish was to to see a human battle it out in unarmed (or untentacled) combat. He figured the Squid would win but hoped the human would put up a good fight. The most worrying part was that he had a sort of maniacal glint in his eye as he said this. So keep your eye out for any news items about an assistant to Dr O'Shea 'falling' off the research into the sea and being killed by the Giant Squid.

Zane

Bannik · Nov 14, 2003

O'Shea

songhrati said:
I interviewed Dr O'Shea recently for an article and I have to say he is somewhat 'obsessed' by Giant Squids.

I got that impression too just by seeing him on the Discovery channel. I actually feel envioius that he has such a rigid focus in his life. I almost wish I could be that devoted to something. There's probably more clarity because he's not always asking so many philosophical questions about the meaning of life like I am. He already knows the purpose of life - finding a live Giant Squid.

Mighty_Emperor · Nov 14, 2003

Science (and a lot of human endeavours: military, ) needs on such driven people as well a good mix of other people (I suspect slightly autistic people also greatly help some areas, etc).

He told me that his greatest wish was to to see a human battle it out in unarmed (or untentacled) combat. He figured the Squid would win but hoped the human would put up a good fight.

Hmm I might have to volunteer :monster:

[edit: I am starting my training tonight with a big plate of calamari - if I can keep doing that once a week then in the run up to the big fight I should be able to step the training up a notch or two and be in a great position to kick its ass!!]

Emps

Mighty_Emperor · Dec 22, 2003

Emperor said:
http://homepage1.nifty.com/ozok/ika-story2.htm

I just wanted to point out the importance of the 2 pictures (third and second from the bottom) as they show the Giant Squid hunting at the surface chasing a jig baited with other squid. The previous general assumption was that they were lived deep in the water column and are only seen at the surface when they are dead or dying.

It casts an interesting light on the surface sightings of the giant squid and also on the idea that some sea monster sightings are actually Giant Squid.

It also raises the possibility that a live one could be captured and, although it would be mean to have them in an aquarium, a live specimen would be really helpful to science.

Emps

Anonymous · Dec 24, 2003

Emperor said:
...they show the Giant Squid hunting at the surface chasing a jig baited with other squid.

Hello Emps,

A wee, technical clarification: the jig wasn't really baited with another squid, as Architeuthis was not the desired catch. The Diamondback squid on the hook, Thysanoteuthis rhombus, was what the Okinawan squid-jiggers were after, and the adolescent Giant was poaching it. Thysanoteuthis is sought after by sushi chefs for its thick mantle wall and pleasantly fatty meat. Apparently, it's also sought after by Okinawan Giant Squid.

Points very well taken re: the implications of these surface events. Still, some of the "monster" sightings which have been assigned to Arcchiteuthis don't quite match up. These GS off Okinawa were of intermediate size, adolescents really, perhaps 2 or 3 metres long. Apparently, these intermediate stage Archis lack the amonium saturated tissue composition of fully mature GS, saturation that gives them slightly positive buoyancy. It's been assumed that as GS mature, the amonium saturation progresses until the animal is dragged to the surface; this is accompanied by rapid loss of muscle tone and locomotive power. "Montser" sightings such as that made from the Daedalus involved very large animals that certainly sound squid-like, but their energetic behaviour is more in keeping with a smaller GS, or perhaps with the larger "Colossal Squid," Mesonychoteuthis.

As for keeping these animals in captivity, Steve O'Shea will probably succeed in raising captured paralarval Architeuthis. His plan is to raise them until they're sub-mature, then release them into the ocean with small tracking uniits implanted through their mantle walls. Keeping them alive in artificial conditions will require careful control of temperature, lighting, oxygenation and food intake. It might well take a few attempts, but it sounds practicable.

The wraps are coming off this animal by inches. It's a bit like the state of Great White shark knowledge in the mid-sixties, before the scientists, film-makers and writers joined forces to drag it into the light.

Yours truly,

Eli

Mighty_Emperor · Dec 24, 2003

Eli said:
A wee, technical clarification: the jig wasn't really baited with another squid, as Architeuthis was not the desired catch. The Diamondback squid on the hook, Thysanoteuthis rhombus, was what the Okinawan squid-jiggers were after, and the adolescent Giant was poaching it. Thysanoteuthis is sought after by sushi chefs for its thick mantle wall and pleasantly fatty meat. Apparently, it's also sought after by Okinawan Giant Squid.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh thanks for that - can't say that appeals to me but I'm not a Giant Squid (or sushi fan)

.

I agree that not all sea monster sightings can be explained by GS. esp. the very large ones. I suspect things like the sighting off Cape Ann in 1818 (where a whale was thought to be fighting a sea serpent) may indeed be a misidentification of a Giant Squid (although that partly relies on the other whale/squid observations being accuratish).

As you say interesting times ahead and it looks like Steve O'Shea will be th man to really push this field.

Emps

athyra · Jan 2, 2004

A note:

Despite all the literature from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, giant squid really are not that big.

AFAIK, real research seems to indicate a fully mature giant squid has a total body length of 6-8 feet, and total length including tentacles of around 20-25 feet in the largest specimens.

Which leads to my belief that A.) Stories of kraken attacking ships are greatly exaggerated, or B.) that unknown squid species exist far larger then is currently thought.

Although this may be possible... Squid are both cannibalistic, eating members of the same species and of others.

Large squid seem to be fairly common in some areas (humbolt), so it would make sense if even larger squid existed that preyed upon them, etc. They would be far fewer in number then the collosals, giant, and humbolt squids though...

But that's just speculation.

Mighty_Emperor · Jan 2, 2004

Yep pretty much - there are many reports of specimens washed up measuring up to 55 feet but all the modern specimens (and the beaks from wahle stomachs) suggest the Giant Squid is more likely around 30 feet long. However, the Colossal Squid is believed to come in a slightly larger variety - lots of info can be found:

Giant Squid and Colossal Squid Fact Sheet

Are there larger squid out there? I'd put money on it.

Can Giant Squid attack ships? That is still open to question and I wonder if the tales are exagerated stories about encounters with dying squid (although the baoth picture suggests they can be fast and aggressive at the surface so............

Emps

Stormkhan · Jan 2, 2004

Marine biology not being my strong point, can anyone tell me what (if any) effects on a cephlapods body would be if it were adapted to high pressure of the deeps and subjected to extremely reduced pressure near the surface?

Anonymous · Jan 2, 2004

Hello Stormkhan,

Aquatic species are not immune to what humans experience as "the bends." If a deep-sea animal is brought up to the surface too quickly, it won't have time to acclimate to the reduced hydrostatic pressure and gases in its bloodstream will come out of suspension; animals with swim bladders will likewise suffer from gas expanding in the bladder. The results in either syndrome will range from the painful and fatal, to the painful and explosive. A deep-water animal that transitions gradually to the surface and equilibriates with the diminished pressure will still have to contend with the shift in oxygenation levels, surface waters being more heavily oxygenated than the deep, and if it's optimized for low oxygen-levels will become stuporous.

Mature Architeuthis are assumed to live at or below 300 metres depth, where water temperature and oxygenation levels complement the oxygen-carrying capacity of the squid's blood (and the ammoniacal composition of its tissues, which confers buoyancy without air-bladders). A mature GS won't live very long at the surface, because the warm, oxygen-rich water will exceed the blood's oxygen-carrying capacity. However, it now appears that sub-mature Architeuthis can and does function quite well in surface waters, as demonstrated by the animals in Okinawan waters, where it is assumed they are rising and falling with prey items in the water column. Still, if one of these "adolescent" squid were brought up from deep water precipitously it would not survive the rapid ascent.

Cheers,

Eli

Mighty_Emperor · Jan 8, 2004

New giant squid predator found

We knew they were hunted by toothed whales (and remains had been found in one shark) but the sleeper shark also seems to target Colossal Squid as well as Giant Squid:

New giant squid predator found

By Paul Rincon
BBC News Online science staff

A little known shark that lives in waters off Antarctica is only the second creature known to science that hunts giant squid for food.

Sleeper sharks even appear to target the biggest species of large squid - the colossal squid, which is about double the size of the shark.

The huge sperm whale was previously the only animal thought to rely on giant and colossal squid for food.

Details of the study are featured in the journal Deep Sea Research.

When French marine biologists opened the stomachs of 36 sleeper sharks accidentally killed by trawlers, they collected the remains of at least 49 colossal squid and eight giant squid.

The research was conducted by Yves Cherel, of the Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chize in Villiers-en-Bois, France, and Guy Duhamel of the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris.

The sleeper sharks were caught in the Southern Ocean in waters off the Kerguelen island archipelago.

Giant squid (Architeuthis dux) and their even bigger relatives colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) are amongst the most mysterious and fascinating creatures in the ocean.

Mystery creatures

Virtually nothing is known of their behaviour, because they have never been observed in their natural habitat.

These latter day sea monsters, which belong to the family of animals known as cephalopods, live in pitch darkness at an ocean depth of up to 600 metres - which is about 350 m deeper than the average operating depth of a submarine.

"We think both the sharks and the giant squid live at the same depths," Dr Cherel told BBC News Online.

"The sharks feed on giant squid of different sizes from juveniles until adults."

Most of what we know about the biology of these large squid comes from dead specimens caught in trawler nets or washed up on beaches.

The giant squid grows up to 12 m (39 feet) in length, though most of this is made up of its two long front tentacles. The colossal squid may grow up to 14 m (46 feet) or more. Sleeper sharks can grow up to 7.3 m (24 feet).

Since large squid tend to dwarf sleeper sharks, the researchers are at a loss to explain how the sharks catch such big prey.

What's more, the sharks appear to devour even bigger squid on average than those eaten by sperm whales.

Beak attack

But the scientists remain open to the possibility that the sharks scavenge dead carcasses.

"Sleeper sharks are known as scavengers and also as predators. They can feed on the living or the dead. But the juvenile giant squid are probably caught live," said Cherel.

Dr Cherel said fishermen did not report signs of scarring on the sharks from being scratched by the beaks of large squid.

It is reasonably common to find deep scratches on the skin of sperm whales from fighting with squid.

The enormous cephalopods are very occasionally reported in the diet of sharks from the North Atlantic and waters off South Africa and eastern Australia.

But the sleeper shark is the only shark known to deliberately seek out these jumbo-size squid.

The French biologists also found an unknown species of large octopus in one of the sharks' stomachs.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3370019.stm

[edit: A discussion is going on here:

http://www.tonmo.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1756

it appears the shark is rather a slow beast that leaves of dead animals]

Emps

Mighty_Emperor · Apr 16, 2004

Falklands giant squid

It appears that a giant squid was found off the Falkland Islands and is en route to the NHM in London:

Thursday, 15 April

Giant squid heads for Natural History Museum in London.

While the Falklands Government and International Fishing Companies bemoan the current lack of commercial squid in the Falklands Economic Zone, considerable excitement has been created in the Islands by the catching of a 'giant' squid weighing 200 kilos.

The 'giant' squid, which is of the Architeuthis dux species has a mantle length of 2.7 meters and an overall length of 10 meters, and was caught during a regular trawl by the Fishing Vessel 'John Cheek' which is owned by the Fortuna Fishing Company of Stanley and which has a licence to catch fin fish in the Falklands Zone'. The ship is named after a founder member of the Company, the late Councillor, John Cheek who died several years ago.

The Falklands Fisheries Department's Senior Fisheries Scientist, Russian born Dr. Alexander Arkhipin told MercoPress that the 'John Cheek' was trawling for Hoki (Whiptail hake) about 30 miles South West of Weddell Island, off West Falklands, when the discovery was made on 5 March. The 'giant' squid was immediately put in cold storage. Dr. Arkhipin said that it is quite common for squid of this species to grow to a mantle length of 5 meters and an overall length of 20 meters.

When the vessel arrived in Port Stanley, the Fortuna Company handed the squid over to the Fisheries Department to allow scientific study.

Dr. Arkhipin said that this type of squid normally provides a regular food supply for Sperm Whales and is not commercially caught, unlike the Loligo and Illex species. He said, 'I would not advise that this 'giant' squid be used for human consumption as the flesh contains a high level of ammonia. It is unique to find a squid of this size in such good condition, and accordingly we are planning to send it to the Natural History Museum in London'.

In Stanley more than 100 people, including the Islands Governor Mr. Howard Pearce, visited the Fisheries Department to study and photograph the unusual catch.

http://www.falkland-malvinas.com/Detalle.asp?NUM=3536

Hat tip goes to TONMO where they are discussing it:

http://www.tonmo.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=2339

Emps

Mighty_Emperor · Apr 16, 2004

Another, larger, picture on the current front page of the Penguin News:

http://www.penguin-news.com

Emps

Mighty_Emperor · May 5, 2004

Giant Squid, Tall Tales and Truth

Seward Hung

By HENRY FOUNTAIN

Published: May 4, 2004

With a length up to 75 feet, the giant squid, Architeuthis, is the largest invertebrate on earth. But it is also the most elusive. It has never been seen alive in its natural habitat.

As such, Architeuthis (pronounced ark-uh-TOOTH-us) has something of a mythical reputation. There has been speculation that the creatures live for decades, even a century, at depths of several thousand feet.

"No one really knows," said Dr. Neil H. Landman of the American Museum of Natural History. "In the ocean there are still mysteries, and this is one of them."

But research by Dr. Landman and colleagues from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and other institutions may help dispel some of the myths. Architeuthis, they say, may not be so long in the tooth, and reports of its depth may be greatly exaggerated.

The researchers studied one of the squid's smallest features, a bonelike particle called a statolith that is not much larger than a grain of sand. Statoliths, which are found in the squid's head and help it maintain equilibrium, grow through the buildup of calcium carbonate in discrete rings.

Dr. Landman analyzed isotopes of oxygen in statoliths from three southern giant squid, Architeuthis sanctipauli, from the Pacific Ocean. Like all specimens, these were caught in fishing nets or washed ashore. The proportion of isotopes gives an indication of the water temperature the squid lived in, and temperature can be related to depth.

In the analysis, reported in the journal Marine Biology, Dr. Landman found that the squid lived at depths of 600 to 1,000 feet. While he noted that those figures are not definitive, they are a far cry from 2,000 to 3,000 feet, as some scientists have thought.

The statoliths were also analyzed for carbon-14, a legacy of atmospheric weapons tests. Carbon-14 in the Pacific increased from the 1950's to about 1980, then began a well-documented decline. By analyzing carbon-14 ratios, the researchers were able to calculate an age for the squid: 14 years or less.

Normal squid reach full size in a matter of months ("They're the broiler chickens of the sea," Dr. Landman said), so some scientists had thought that giant squid might grow as fast.

Dr. Landman said he thought the giants add heft relative rapidly, though not at the pace of their cousins. After all, he said, "it's hard to imagine something growing that big so quickly."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/04/science/04SQUI.html

Mighty_Emperor · May 5, 2004

And a couple from TONMO (I nipped over to post the above but they already had it):

Giant squid leaves sexcapades to chance

May 04 2004 at 06:12PM

Stralsund - The giant squid is not especially choosy when it comes to sex and will mate blind without checking if the object of its affection is male or female, a German researcher said on Tuesday.

Volker Miske, of the Stralsund maritime museum in northeast Germany, said a male specimen being prepared for conservation had sperm underneath its skin.

The giant squid reproduces by the male injecting sperm under the skin of its female partner.

"The theory about two male giant squid mating is not new, but for the first time we have something that seriously supports that theory," he told reporters.

"It's the first time that (sperm) traces have been discovered in a part of the body so far from the sexual organ.

"Until now, it was thought males injected themselves with sperm by accident during mating. But that is definitely not the case here: the sperm was clearly injected by another giant squid."

There is another possibility that cannot be totally excluded, Miske added, which is that the infusion of sperm happened during group sex.

However, that is unlikely given that chance encounters between giant squid, rare, multi-tentacled creatures which live at depths of between 300 and 1 000 metres below sea level, are few and far between.

The six-metre-long specimen being prepared at Stralsund was discovered by a team led by the New Zealand researcher Steve O'Shea

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=143&art_id=qw108368712230B265&set_id=1

Biologie: Ungeheuer auf Reisen

Im Mai wird zum ersten Mal in Deutschland ein Riesenkalmar zu sehen sein. Beim Präparieren des sagenumwobenen Tiefseewesens entdeckten Wissenschaftler Spuren seiner eigenartigen Fortpflanzungsmethode

Erst seit 1857 zählt die Gattung Architeuthis zu den wissenschaftlich beschriebenen Tieren. Doch in jüngster Zeit werden die geheimnisvollen Wesen häufiger gesichtet - durch zunehmende kommerzielle Tiefseefischerei. So ist ein 6,50 Meter langes Exemplar eines Riesentintenfisches im August 2003 einem Fischereischiff vor Neuseeland als Beifang ins Netz gegangen. Schockgefroren gelangte das Tier ans Earth and Oceanic Sciences Research Institute der Technischen Universität Auckland, wo es aufgetaut und mit Formalin konserviert wurde. Auf Vermittlung des Kopffüßer-Spezialisten Volker Miske vom Zoologischen Institut und Museum der Universität Greifswald wird das Neuseeland-Exemplar ab Mai 2004 im Deutschen Meeresmuseum Stralsund zu besichtigen sein.

Bei der Untersuchung fiel den Forschern eine Besonderheit ins Auge. Das männliche Tier trug am Körperende unter seiner Haut, weit außerhalb der Reichweite seines eigenen Geschlechtsteils, mehrere Spermienbehälter, die nur von einem anderen männlichen Riesenkalmar stammen konnten. Vermutlich handelt es sich um einen in Kauf genommenen "Irrtum" des Samengebers: In der Dunkelheit der Tiefsee sind Begegnungen der Wesen so selten, dass ein Männchen die so genannten Spermatophoren vorsorglich in jeden Riesentintenfisch injiziert - egal ob Männchen oder Weibchen. Wie die Spermien später freigesetzt werden, um die Eier eines Weibchens zu befruchten, ist noch unbekannt.

Unerforscht oder bizarr sind noch viele andere Eigenschaften der Riesentiere, die in Tiefen von etwa 300 bis 1000 Metern leben und wohl in allen Ozeanen der Welt vorkommen - seltener jedoch in tropischen oder polaren Gewässern. In diesen Tiefen schweben die Giganten, die mehr als 18 Meter lang werden können, mithilfe eines speziellen Auftriebsmittels - einer Ammoniumchloridlösung, die ein geringeres spezifisches Gewicht als Meerwasser hat. Mit seinen großen Augen, wohl den größten im Tierreich, nutzt der Kalmar das geringe Restlicht in den Tiefen der Meere. Trotz eines vergleichsweise winzigen Gehirns - es wiegt nur etwa 24 Gramm - gelten die Kopffüßerriesen als ausnehmend intelligent, genau wie ihre näheren Verwandten, die Sepien, Tiefseevampire und Kraken. All diese Kopffüßer gehören wie Schnecken und Muscheln zu den Weichtieren (Mollusken), haben sich stammesgeschichtlich aber von ihnen weit entfernt. Die Gruppe der Kopffüßer existiert schon seit rund 550 Millionen Jahren, ihre Artenzahl wird auf 750 bis 1000 geschätzt.

Trotz der wissenschaftlichen Bedeutung des Fanges aus dem Gebiet nahe des neuseeländischen Hokitika-Canyons hat Steve O'Shea von der Technischen Universität Auckland bereits mehrfach gegen die intensive Tiefseefischerei in der Region protestiert - vermutlich paaren sich die Riesenkalmare in dieser Gegend. Ergebnis des Protests: Der Wissenschaftler wird vermutlich keine Exemplare mehr von den Fischern erhalten. Die tot oder sterbend an die Meeresoberfläche geholten Tiere gehen dann als nutzloser Beifang wieder über Bord.

Näheres zu diesem Thema ist unter http://www.tintenfische.com/riesenkalmar.htm zu erfahren.

http://www.geo.de/GEO/medizin_psych...nkalmar/?linkref=geode_teaser_toc_text&SDSID=

Mighty_Emperor · May 17, 2004

Long article on teuthologist Steve O'Shea (his Neil Diamond obsession has now gone mainstream) and various other giant squid related goodies:

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?040524fa_fact1

Emps

Mighty_Emperor · Jun 4, 2004

Grants lag on squid

Experts believe genetic differences offer key to fishery regulations

DOUG FRASER
STAFF WRITER

WOODS HOLE - Ask Roger Hanlon about giant squid and the measured tones and dispassionate mask of the scientist drop faster than you can say, "Wanna see something?"

Fetching a square plastic box from a shelf in his office at the Marine Biological Laboratory, he dips his hands into clear liquid and cradles an ivory white mass of flesh. It's the eye of a giant squid, found on a New Zealand beach, preserved in alcohol.

Squid scientists from all over the world converge on Woods Hole at this time of year to study the giant squid's cousin, the Loligo pealei, a foot-long version that has a very large optic nerve. Nantucket Sound sees a large number of squid migrate to the area each April through May, and neurobiological researchers have a relatively secure source of federal funds from the National Institutes of Health to look at this squid to try to determine how it might apply to visual disorders in people.

Hanlon's done his share of squid eye research, but he's also interested in squid for the clues they might yield in how to improve management of all kinds of fisheries, not just squid.

Finding the money to continue on that path has been difficult.

It's been a year since Hanlon and his research team used genetic fingerprinting to identify between three to five genetically distinct squid stocks, which migrate to inshore waters from Maryland to the Cape from their winter grounds in deep-water offshore canyons.

Before that discovery, scientists and fishery managers both thought there was only one stock of squid. The implications of Hanlon's discovery for fishery management are profound.

For example, fishery managers assume that, with just one stock of squid, where those squid are caught doesn't matter. Squid from other areas will move in to replace those that are gone, it is believed.

But Hanlon's research indicates squid that show up in one area of Nantucket Sound in the spring might be genetically distinct from squid in other parts of the sound, or from those near Rhode Island, or Long Island. His research also shows that those stocks do not interbreed.

Significant finding

What this means is that highly efficient fishing practices could wipe out, or greatly reduce, the squid in a particular area and there would be few left to breed and replace the population. This could affect other species, because squid are eaten by other fish.

Chatham trap fishermen say they noticed just such an environmental ripple effect when a winter squid fishery targeting deep canyons at the edge of the continental shelf picked up steam in the mid-1990s. Trap, or weir, fishermen set a maze of poles and nets in shallow water in Nantucket Sound to trap schools of migrating fish and squid.

Chatham weir fisherman Mark Simonitsch said his catches and all inshore Nantucket Sound landings dropped dramatically after that offshore fishery caught on.

"It is a significant discovery," said Simonitsch of Hanlon's genetic research. He noted that identifying individual subgroups of other species such as cod could also be vital to managing those species.

This winter, MBL Marine Resources researcher Dr. Gabriele Gerlach will team up with the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association to look at cod DNA.

Richard Seagraves, a fishery management specialist in charge of squid at the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, said Hanlon's findings have been discussed by the council and National Marine Fisheries Service scientists. But, he said, considering distinct subgroups of squid with a goal of preventing overfishing on each one would be complicated and time-consuming.

"There is a fairly sophisticated technology to tease out subgroups (of species), but to apply that would be tough," he said.

For example, Hanlon's research showed that the squid stocks he identified live together in offshore water during the winter, but they do not interbreed. They separate into their individual genetic stocks for the spring migration inshore.

That would make an offshore winter fishery like the one Simonitsch mentioned hard to regulate, because it would be impossible for fishermen to distinguish between a stock that is in trouble and one that is abundant.

More research needed

While federal regulations require that fishery regulators manage stocks independently, they have to be recognized as distinct first. That has not been done yet for squid, Seagraves said.

Hanlon admits more research is needed to solidify his findings, but genetics is very expensive science. He received no funding this year for a proposal that would have furthered his study identifying squid stocks through genetics.

"It's a very hot question, and I have not yet found someone to fund it," he said.

Hanlon said he does not fault the National Marine Fisheries Service or its parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He believes the federal government should invest more in ocean research by creating a department of the ocean, similar to the Department of Agriculture which funds land-based research.

NOAA has already committed itself to ecosystems-based fishery management for the future, but Hanlon said they have to fund the research that yields that kind of biological data on fish and their habitats.

"Let's go out and get the integrated biological data and manage fisheries as an ecosystem, and not as individual species," he said. "But until someone puts up the money and gets people out to work on it, not much is going to happen."

(Published: June 3, 2004)

http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/grantslag3.htm

Cool picture of the Giant Squid eye!!

Emps

Mighty_Emperor · Jun 5, 2004

Britain fights for giant squid

By Charles Clover
(Filed: 05/06/2004)

Britain is expecting a fight with other EU fishing nations on Monday as it calls for a United Nations ban on deep-sea trawling to preserve creatures such as the giant squid.

Trawling on deep-sea mountains and cold coral reefs is thought to be exceptionally damaging ecologically because of the slow growth rates of creatures at great depths.

The giant squid is one of many creatures in danger from deep-sea trawling

A reef is believed to take 100,000 years to recover from the damage caused by a bottom trawl. Elliott Morley, the environment minister, said yesterday: "We would support a ban on destructive fisheries in international waters. These are very important ecosystems."

Simon Reddy, of Greenpeace, said: "More people have been into space than into the dark depths of the oceans. Scientists say there could be as many as five million species we've never discovered. Destroying sea mounts is like blowing up Mars before we get a chance to explore it."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai...id05.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/06/05/ixworld.html

Mighty_Emperor · Jun 15, 2004

And an interview with everyone's favourite giant squid reseacher (picked up via TONMO):

Loft full of all things squidy

15 June 2004

Giant squid and the fishing industry form the third talk in the Sea Around Us winter lecture series at the Marine Education and Recreation Centre, in Long Bay. Errol Kiong meets zoologist and passionate conservationist Steve O'Shea, who has spent the past seven years studying the mysterious denizens of the deep.

Steve O'Shea loves squid. He's devoted the past seven years of his life to studying them.

They're good eating as well, Dr O'Shea admits.

He's perhaps best known internationally for his research into the giant squid, mysterious creatures that can grow up to 13 metres long and weigh up to 275kg.

The zoologist's secluded loft in the Auckland University of Technology's city campus, where he is a senior research fellow, is surrounded by all things squidy.

Drawings, plastic models, specimen jars and vats all reflect his current pursuit. Even his computer screen saver features squids.

But to say squids have been his life's work is a misrepresentation. He is, first and foremost, an octopus specialist who only recently branched into squids.

"They're a fascinating, fascinating group of animals."

Dr O'Shea is also a passionate conservationist who's been issued with death threats. His outspoken views on deep sea trawling in New Zealand clearly do not endear him to the fishing industry.

His work on giant squids was a "complete accident", he says.

A phone call seven years ago changed the course of his career. A giant squid had washed up on shore, and the-then scientist with the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research thought it would be exciting to examine the carcass.

"Ever since then things have been a little out of control."

By out of control, he means the 117 further dead giant squid he examined over the next seven years have made him the foremost expert on these animals in the world.

He's also one of the few to have laid hands on a colossal squid, which is even larger than the giant squid.

Despite this, still little is known about these mysterious creatures.

Dr O'Shea does know, however, that they do not attack whales. The misconception really gets up his nose.

Giant squid eat small fish and other squid. The female grows to a total length of 13 metres while the male reaches up to 10 metres.

"These records that you get of 60-foot long, 20-metre long squid are absolute nonsense."

Nobody knows how many there are. What is certain is they do not live in New Zealand waters throughout the year, migrating to places such as Hokitika Canyon and the Banks Peninsula to breed in certain months.

The mating process of the giant squid is a barbaric one, he says. The 275kg female has a 20-gram brain, while the smaller 150kg male has a 15-gram brain.

With a 15-gram brain coordinating a 1.5-metre penis, eight arms and two tentacles, it is understandable why cannibalism sometimes occurs during mating, Dr O'Shea says.

Animals of that size simply do not have large populations, he says, and their numbers are affected by commercial fishing.

The methods of the fishing industry, particularly in New Zealand, is something that really gets Dr O'Shea going.

New Zealand has 96 species of squid and 42 species of octopus in its waters, the highest diversity count in the world.

Five octopus species discovered here in 1999 are already extinct, he says, solely because of deep sea bottom trawling.

Trawling, he says, impacts on the early life stages of squid.

Bottom trawling kills all the squid in nets, or disturbs the environment to such an extent that these animals just go away, he says.

Squid are environmental barometers, similar to frogs on land, he says. When you disturb an oceanic environment, the first thing to go are the squid.

In the good old days, says Dr O'Shea, he would see up to 23 dead giant squid a year. This year, he's seen only one.

People tend to point the finger at the Japanese practices of drift netting and whaling, he says, but they are oblivious to the fact that New Zealand boats are the worst environmental destroyers in the world.

"We're working New Zealand waters, we've devasted those international waters around New Zealand waters, South Australian waters, Azures waters, South American waters, South African waters ... we're leading the world in the destruction of the marine environment. That's tragic.

"We're fishing 1.5km deep now simply because there's nothing living shallower," he says.

All this does not bode well for the squid.

A paper in 1967 found that a sperm whale's diet comprised 37 per cent of commercial fish species like orange roughy and hoki. Today, says Dr O'Shea, the whale eats almost exclusively squid, chomping down between 800 and 1000 a day because of fish scarcity.

To compound that, the 21 species of squid that are the sperm whale's staple diet waft on the brink of vanishing completely.

Over the next decade, Dr O'Shea anticipates an even further change to the sperm whale's diet to include other classes and species of squid.

When the squid go, he says, so too will the whale.

The tragedy, he says, is that like most deep sea animals, we still know too little about them.

Everything we know now about giant squid, he says, is based on post mortem examination.

"We are basically too resource and cash-starved in New Zealand to undertake the in situ observation of what's down there."

With the National Aquarium of New Zealand in Napier and Kelly Tarlton's, Dr O'Shea heads off to the Hawke's Bay next month to attempt to catch a juvenile giant squid, among other squid species.

But he is resigned to fighting a losing battle. He knows he cannot save the giant squid from extinction.

"It's basically too late."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2941259a7693,00.html

Emps

Anonymous · Jun 22, 2004

Mighty_Emperor · Aug 14, 2004

Rare Giant Squid Caught Off Canary Islands

Squid Is Nearly 30 Feet Long

Fishermen catch a giant squid, one of the ocean's most reclusive creatures, off of Spain's Canary Islands.

The squid measures nearly 30 feet long and weighs 222 pounds. It was found tangled in the fishermen's nets. It had already died.

There have only been 300 confirmed sightings of giant squids over the past 500 years. None have ever been seen alive.

The creatures usually live at depths of more than 660 feet, but sometimes surface to feed on fishermen's bait.

Smaller squid are considered a delicacy, but giant squid are inedible because their bodies contain a high concentration of ammonia, which helps them survive in deeper waters.

The squid will be turned over to the Canary Islands Institute of Science for research and will eventually be put on display at a local museum.

The largest giant squid ever found was nearly 60 feet long and weighed 2,000 pounds.

http://www.nbc30.com/news/3651163/detail.html

CygnusRex · Aug 25, 2004

Giant squid trucked to Auckland for autopsy

TUESDAY , 24 AUGUST 2004

A 300kg giant squid found on Farewell Spit yesterday will be trucked to Auckland for an autopsy by a squid specialist Steve O'Shea at Auckland University.

The 5.7m squid was found 3km from the lighthouse by tourists on a Farewell Spit Tours trip.

Simon Walls from the Department of Conservation said it was the biggest squid he had seen washed up on the Spit.

Big squid sometimes got caught in nets and the one found yesterday could have been discarded by a fisherman.

The squid had been wrapped in dolphin body bags and was being kept at DOC's workshop in Takaka, where many locals had come to take a look at it.

"We could not find a big enough freezer for it," Mr Walls said.

A team of DOC workers managed to get the giant squid on to the back of a utility truck with the help of the tide

Image

Source

Mighty_Emperor · Aug 25, 2004

Steve O'Shea was hinting at somehting like this the other day at TONMO and now the news has been circulated he is claiming has something very interesting planned for this specimen (possibly related to the fact that he will be conducting a non-invasive autopsy on it) - should be interesting

See:

http://www.tonmo.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=31702#31702

Anonymous · Aug 27, 2004

Giantest Giant Squid

According to the news, which i am currently watching, the "giantest giant squid was washed up in Auckland yesterday". It weighs 300kg and measure 40ft long. It will take several months to 'prepare' before it can go on show.

Anonymous · Aug 27, 2004

Wow!
That's 100kg bigger than the Falklands one!
It's been a good (or bad, if your a squid) week for giant squid.
You wait ages for a giant squid, and then two come along at once.
I wonder if it's a seasonal thing?

Giant squid trucked to Auckland for autopsy
24 August 2004

A 300kg giant squid found on Farewell Spit yesterday will be trucked to Auckland for an autopsy by a squid specialist Steve O'Shea at Auckland University.

The 5.7m squid was found 3km from the lighthouse by tourists on a Farewell Spit Tours trip.

Simon Walls from the Department of Conservation said it was the biggest squid he had seen washed up on the Spit.

Big squid sometimes got caught in nets and the one found yesterday could have been discarded by a fisherman.

The squid had been wrapped in dolphin body bags and was being kept at DOC's workshop in Takaka, where many locals had come to take a look at it.

"We could not find a big enough freezer for it," Mr Walls said.

A team of DOC workers managed to get the giant squid on to the back of a utility truck with the help of the tide.

Story and pic here

Giant Squid (Architeuthis)

Gone But Not Forgotten

Anonymous

Guest

Gone But Not Forgotten

Anonymous

Guest

Anonymous

Guest

Gone But Not Forgotten

Gone But Not Forgotten

Gone But Not Forgotten

Gone But Not Forgotten

Anonymous

Guest

Gone But Not Forgotten

Gone But Not Forgotten

Gone But Not Forgotten

Disturbingly familiar

Anonymous

Guest

Gone But Not Forgotten

Gone But Not Forgotten

Gone But Not Forgotten

Gone But Not Forgotten

Gone But Not Forgotten

Gone But Not Forgotten

Gone But Not Forgotten

Gone But Not Forgotten

Gone But Not Forgotten

Anonymous

Guest

Gone But Not Forgotten

Gone But Not Forgotten

Gone But Not Forgotten

Anonymous

Guest

Anonymous

Guest