Mariner folklore has long inspired legends of sea monsters dwelling in the depths of distant seas. However, colossal creatures really do exist and for only the third time in history a very real giant squid has been caught on camera. Researchers only captured the first-ever footage of a living giant squid in 2006.
And it was a whole six years later before a scientific team spotted another.
It was also big – at least 3 to 3.7 metres (10 to 12ft) long
NOAA scientists Sönke Johnsen and Edie Widder
Now, in a remarkable discovery 100 miles off the New Orleans coast, scientists have again recorded an elusive giant squid.
Footage of the encounter shows the gargantuan cephalopod looming out of the inky darkness to wrap its roaming tentacles around the team’s e-jelly lure.
Then the squid speedily beats a hasty retreat after realising the object is not in fact edible.
Researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Journey into Midnight expedition announced the discovery in a blog post this weekend.
The researchers spent the previous fortnight examining deep areas of the Gulf of Mexico to unlock the secrets of life in a lightless world.
While analysing data from reams of film footage from the fifth deployment of the Medusa stealth camera system, researcher Nathan Robinson spotted something strange in the corner of the screen.
This, the team announced, proved to be “an enormous set of arms and tentacles coming in to attack the e-jelly.
NOAA scientists Sönke Johnsen and Edie Widder wrote: “People quickly gathered around. We knew immediately that it was a squid.
“It was also big, but because it was coming straight at the camera, it was impossible to tell exactly how big. But big – at least 3 to 3.7 metres (10 to 12ft) long.”
After referencing squid identification books, the team settled on an estimation that they’d glimpsed a juvenile giant squid.
With further examination by squid expert Dr Michael Vecchione at the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Services, the team confirmed what they’d just seen with near-certainty.
The discovery now adds a fascinating insight to the behaviour of the extremely elusive aquatic animal.
The researchers added: We found the squid after only five Medusa deployments, despite the fact that thousands of ROV and submersible dives in the Gulf of Mexico have not done so.
“This suggests that the animal does not like the bright lights of ROVs and that stealth monitoring of the sort possible with the Medusa can allow us to see what has never been seen before.”
And, despite fearsome legends of man-eating monsters and tentacles that can destroy ships, researchers believe the giant squid is not be the fearsome kraken we think.
“Most importantly,” the team says, “we did not find a monster.
“The giant squid is large and certainly unusual from our human perspective, but if the video shows anything of the animal’s character, it shows an animal surprised by its mistake, backing off after striking at something that at first must have seemed appealing but was obviously not food.”
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