New Giant Squid Video Reported on Reuters!

[WhiteKiboko]

I was just bout to post bout this, but you beat me to it!

It says its 24 feet long, but the picture of it on the floor next to him makes it look much smaller.

it seems reuters has the 3.5m, AP 24 ft....

 

[Phil]

I doubt if any of the major news agencies would accurately report the difference between Total Length and Mantle Length as the terms might be a little obscure to someone outside the field.

24ft = 7.3m.

Fascinating story, how utterly unexpected!

 

[monty]

From the reuters pic with Ku behind it:

, it looks to me like the ML isn't more than 2m, and probably more like 1.5m unless the good doctor is quite tall.

 

[tonmo]

 

[Paradox]

From the reuters pic with Ku behind it:

, it looks to me like the ML isn't more than 2m, and probably more like 1.5m unless the good doctor is quite tall.

I agree. Total length cannot be 24 ft when looking at that picture. its a shame that architeuthis is so often misrepresented in mainstream media. I wonder what the reason for perpetuating such a lie would be in an otherwise incredible event.

 

[Toren]

And that's the bestest Hexmas present of all!

I must remember to watch Daily Planet tonight!

 

[tonmo]

I agree. Total length cannot be 24 ft when looking at that picture. its a shame that architeuthis is so often misrepresented in mainstream media. I wonder what the reason for perpetuating such a lie would be in an otherwise incredible event.

I agree -- lack of diligence, it would seem.

Here is an excerpt from Dr. Steve O'Shea's article, Giant Squid and Colossal Squid Fact Sheet:

Architeuthis dux (Fig. 6)
Architeuthis is frequently reported to attain a lotal length of 60 feet. The largest specimen known washed ashore on a New Zealand beach, Lyall Bay (Wellington) in the winter of 1887. It was a female and "in all ways smaller than any of the hitherto-described New Zealand species" (Kirk 1887); it measured 55 feet 2 inches in total length, exaggerated by great lengthening (stretching like rubber bands) of the very slight tentacular arms; its mantle length was 71 inches (1.8 m). A comparable-sized female (ML 1.8 m) measured post mortem and relaxed (by modern standards) would have a total length of ~ 32 feet.

Mantle length (as opposed to total length) is the standard measure in cephalopods. Architeuthis is not known to attain a mantle length in excess of 2.25 m. Standard Length (SL) is the length of a squid excluding the tentacles; in Architeuthis this measure very rarely exceeds 5 m. The rest of the animal's length, to a total length of 13 m, is made up of the two long tentacles. Of 105 specimens that we have examined, none has exceeded these figures (Fig. 7).

 

[Thales]

Looks like its about 200 feet long to me. I am never going in the ocean again!

How freaking cool!

 

[Paradox]

Looks like its about 200 feet long to me. I am never going in the ocean again!

How freaking cool!

Dont forget...Eyes the size of Dinner Plates!

 

[monty]

I wonder if there's any hope that Dr Kubodera will put the uncut full length video on the web... I converted the CNN streaming one to mpeg, but I don't think it would be legal for me to repost it. But I'd love to see the whole event!

 

[WhiteKiboko]

Dont forget...Eyes the size of Dinner Plates!

Eating whales and battling london buses....

or so the internet tells me.....

 

[GPO87]

Looks like its about 200 feet long to me. I am never going in the ocean again!

How freaking cool!

Looks like its about 200 feet long to me. I WANT TO GO INTO THE OCEAN!!!

This is totally exciting, I think I should move to Japan, that's where all the action is!

 

[Phil]

Was this location in close proximity to the Sept 2005 still photographs? If so, it's interesting to see that Dr Kubodera and his team seem to have pinpointed a perfect location to catch and film Architeuthis. Either that, or he has been very, very lucky. Either way let's just hope that now that the bait has been proven to work twice that a method can be devised to film the beast in its natural habitat without catching and killing the poor brute. Fingers crossed for the future; hopefully the experience gained in the two incidents will mark a watershed in Architeuthis behavoural observational methods and prove a catalyst to propel further research.

You know it's funny to think that after all the time, effort and money spent on attempting to track and film the giant squid (submersibles, whale cams etc), the two successful occasions have been via the application of a simple line and hook. It makes one wonder how many other giant squid have been caught by fishermen in this manner and have been unreported being cast adrift as being far too large to land.

 

[Phil]

Another variation of the footage is available here, this time seemingly raw and without commentary:

http://cbs11tv.com/topstories/local_story_356164541.html

 

[dragonfish]

ok, I admit it. I hardly ever come here. but when I heard about an architeuthis being caught on cam. I just had to come to the best ceph source I know.

either way, you guys didn't let me down! great news, with great footage!