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Kraken! Scientists Capture First Giant Squid Footage

And Discovery is airing tape this month

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 7, 2013 12:46 PM CST

(Newser) – Discovery is about to release the Kraken: Until now, the giant squid had never been caught on video in its natural habitat. But Japan's National Science Museum has managed to capture the footage, and it's headed for the small screen on the country's public television. Then, on Jan. 27, the Discovery Channel will unveil the video of the creature "with razor-toothed suckers and eyes the size of dinner plates." That's not totally an exaggeration.

The giant squid is believed to have inspired centuries of legends among sailors. The squid in question is about 10 feet long—though scientists say it would have been 26 feet long had it not been missing two arms—and was taped some 2,000 feet underwater in the north Pacific. It took experts some 400 hours squeezed into a submersible to get the footage, AFP reports. "It was shining and so beautiful," says a researcher of the silvery, black-eyed squid. "I was so thrilled when I saw it firsthand."

In this Sept. 18, 2009 photo, a senior researcher with Cuba's Institute of Oceanology looks at a giant squid at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Fla.
In this Sept. 18, 2009 photo, a senior researcher with Cuba's Institute of Oceanology looks at a giant squid at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Fla.   (AP Photo/Christine Armario)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 20 comments
milosleubner
Jan 8, 2013 2:53 AM CST
  This  must  be  a  joke !  There were  carcases  of  blue  whales   found   with  injuries  caused  to  them  by  giant  squid .  Determining  by  the  size  of   suckers  imprints  the   squid  sizes   would  have  to  be  from 100   to  250  feet  in  size.
radicalronpaul
Jan 7, 2013 6:47 PM CST
here's a picture http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQo-CkjQqyDOPpb1V3XCsVMjyRuyaZNRDWYs8lHQhNAq7HJ_7lh
Skrybe
Jan 7, 2013 3:44 PM CST
He looks nothing like my tattoo :(
 

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