Monster of the deep!!! The Giant Spuid.

Originally posted by Viper01
The responsibility of situational adaption lies with you.

Why can’t the spiders responsibly adapt and stay out of sight? 😀

yes ..

funnily enough, I have just this minute removed a couple (one of which was too large for comfort) who were doing it in the corner of this room.

Don’t want to upset anyone who likes spiders, but we can’t coexist.
Everyone knows they’re really xenomorphs anyway….:D

Spiders

..there are spiders in the sea…

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3017078.stm

I really did NOT want to know this.:eek:

I’ve only ever seen a dead coeleocanth at he natural history museum…shame they are a real link back to the prehistoric age….wish my gf would let me watch natural history documentaries again…she’s odd, doesnt like watching them at all…..

coanda

Originally posted by Viper01
Another potential reason why giant squids apparently are restricted to large depths can be related to their internal body pressure. Creatures balance their internal pressure according to i. e. a change in environmental/external pressure during descent and ascent (relative to descent/ascent rate). Creatures living at large depths normally adapt their internal body pressure to match the pressure in their environment, i. e. 101 bar – 1001 bar (1000 m – 5000 m) etc. If a specific creature is unable to balance its internal body pressure in accordance with the external pressure, the internal pressure will eventually exceed the external pressure, consequently the creature’s body will expand, often resulting in fatal injury.
I am not in a position to authenticate reports alleging observations of living giant squids at surface level.
I currently know very litte about squid anatomy or other of its biological characteristics, but I find it naturally to assume that the giant squid, due to the high pressure state of its (assumed) natural large depth environment, may be unable to balance its internal pressure according to a rapid or permanent reduction of external pressure due to ascension. Due to the substantial difference in external pressure, I also find it rational to assert that the “normal” but unknown size and specific shape of the qiant squid; the size and shape it takes when located on large depths, is relatively smaller than the size and shape of examples/individuals observed on surface level.

Regards,

Viper01

Got it in one Viper. That is why you will never see a giant squid on the surface, and if you were to dive deep enough to see one in it’s habitat you would end up dead. I spent three years getting a degree in bloody marine biology (truly hateful subject believe me, even for someone interested in science, but my idea of science is veterinary medicine so it’s hardly surprising that marine biology is not for me).

Tempest, really enjoyed reading ur link, thanks.

http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Meadows/3884/jpegs/golomyanka.jpg

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do you have a picture of that “fat” fish Arthur?

Coelacanths are cool! And the fact that those were found somewhere in the 1970s (until then it was assumed that coelacanths only existed in prehistoric days, matter of fact dino times) gave way to a lot less scepticism of other weird things which might swim in the world’s oceans.

But the coolest fish has got to be the Golomyanka or fat-fish. It only lives in the Baikal lake, and since it has no skin but consists for the largest part of fat tissue it melts if you take it out of the water 😀

A few months ago, during the Iraq war, a real (dead) giant squid was found. It didnt make that much news because of all the war news. Let me try find it…

….got it,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2910849.stm

The unusual creature that is found in the warms waters off India and S Africa in the Indian ocean is the Coeleocanth (sp?), another story altogether.

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that’s so cool…hey Garry, do you guys eat squid? So, when one floats up do people eat it? Just wondering. People eat “small” squids (at most 1 meter long), just wondering if those big ones taste any good….um…calamari

Nice pics WhiskeyD, so far though no site I have visited has even suggested what this monster might have for its supper, I mean let’s face it…with 25cm hooks and a large beak I doubt its a vegitarian:D

So given that it lives deep beneath the surface and rarely comes top side could it:

a) attack unwary whales – given the reports this may be likely – such as small pilot whales or baby sperm whales?

b) prey on a large animal we have so far missed living at its depth?

c) eat large fish and other squid?

Here’s a more recent encounter and one more reason I don’t swim in the ocean:

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/01/17/1042520761702.html

It also turns out that there is a squid bigger than the Giant Squid. Researchers are calling it the Collosal Squid.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2910849.stm

Another recently discovered “large squid” that measures 4-5 meters. This link has pictures and movies captured from a deep sea remotely operated vehicle. Very creepy.

http://www.mbari.org/news/news_releases/2001/dec21_clague/dec21_clague.html

Viper, though it is rare that such an event occurs, encounters with giant squids at surface level are fact. In fact the only reason we knew this creature existed in the 18th Century was because two fishermen had a close call.
In was off the Cornish Coast – as far as I can recall reading – that two fishermen in a small boat noticed something floating on the surface of the water. Assuming it was a dead whale the two men went to take a look. When they got to 50ft they realised that not only was it not a whale, it was far from dead!!! The creature moved toward the boat – perhaps in response to it being seen as a threat – and attacked with a tentacle 45ft long (estimated by one of the fishermen). The two men fought back in panic and one of them managed to grab a knife and hack through the tentacle, severing a 12ft portion from the main body. The severed tentacle is allegedly stored in a natural history museum, but is for some reason not displayed to the public. This was not the first recorded encounter but was the first time a piece of the creature was brought back. It is a well known story because it ended the myth and started the investigation into this amazing creature.
I’ll see if I can find some link explaining in better detail.
Also did u know that one of the most recent encounters was by a US destroyer???
It was reported that a US destroyer of an un-reported type that had recently undergone a refit – recently as in ’96 – was sailing out of harbour into the Carribbean Sea to test new sonar systems. Six hours after she sailed the Captain reported encountering a large “unknown biologic” in deep waters. The sonar system had been damaged. When she returned to port, a dive team checked out her hull, only to find a 25cm “hook” stuck in her hull!!!

The story of King Kong did not originate from anyone finding a giant Gorilla. Stories often involve an exaggeration or two and I think Sailors probably hold the record… from “It was this big… Honest!” to Manaties (Spelling) becoming beautiful women with fish tails… ie Mermaids. A manatie is about as pretty as a walrus…

I guess it was either the rum, or a need to fill in the boredom of ocean from horizon to horizon for months on end…

So then it’s true….

I’d always heard they have never actually seen a live one.

I also heard they wouldn’t be able to survive in warmer waters. Is that why they live so deep possibly?

Maybe their eyes couldn’t function in shallower depths.

“For years I have been fascinated by this creature, imagine a giant monster swimming in the warm waters of South Africa or India nearly 100ft in length, makes Jaws look like a Goldfish!!! “

Actually the depth they live at it is actually cold water they swim in. and you’d be rather hard pressed to meet one in a scuba suit… unless you had drowned and were sinking.

They have quite a few each year washed up on the beaches of the Kaikora coast here in New Zealand. Quite a few people have come here in diving bells to try to see them but so far have not seen one alive and swimming.

Actually Sperm Whales feast on Giant Squids.

And I agree I find them to be fascinating creatures.

Speaking of Jaws (which I thought was not only a great movie, but an even better book), have you read Beast by the same author (Peter Benchly). They made a movie of it too……though it wasn’t nearly as good as Jaws.

The book was pretty good though, from what I remember.

Similar concept to Jaws…..people get eaten. 🙂