Thursday, September 29, 2005

« Is that a Septopus? »

By Matthew Cary

Today's news-worthy post was a little more difficult to find than the past few. In fact, I almost wrote about my surprise finding that Ball Park Franks now come in a resealable package.

After digging for a while, I found a few reports on a finding all the way from Ogasawara, Japan. According to CDNN - The Cyber Divers News Network, "Japanese zoologists have made the first recording of a live giant squid, one of the strangest and most elusive creatures in the world."

This was the first time that the biggest star in Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was taped or even smiled and said cheese. "Given the problems of getting down to its home in the ocean depths, no-one had ever obtained pictures of a live one," reports CDNN.

CDNN described how the eight-metre specimen was captured on film when it lunged at a bait bag full of freshly mashed shrimp, succeeding only in getting itself impaled on the hook. For the next four hours, the squid tried to get itself off the hook as it had its picture taken every 30 seconds, gaining not only unprecedented pictures but also precious information about how the squid is able to propel itself. After a monstrous battle, the squid eventually freed itself but left behind a giant tentacle on the hook. When the limb was brought up to the surface, its huge suckers were still able to grip the boat deck and any fingers that touched them.

I guess we should all be prepared for a new Hollywood production of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

(To read the rest of CDNN's report on this photo-op, click here.)