Colossal Squid Caught

[Dorkhedeos]

have you guys seen this monster yet? http/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6385071.stm

imagine the calamari rings it would make i doubt it would taste good though

 

[MojoDex]

arnt giant and colossal squids just a different name for the same thing?

 

[Amunet]

arnt giant and colossal squids just a different name for the same thing?

No, I think their suckers are different or something.
Just read some of that article.. apparently.. colossal squids are much heavier *shrugs*

Anywho!
I would crap all over myself if I saw something that huge in the water that wasn't a whale (I'd probably still crap myself if I saw a whale too )....

 

[paul_219]

Yuk yuk digusting phewy. I want to stay alive.

 

[stang1]

WOW!!! That's amazing. Shame it didn't survive though.

 

[Barb82]

I like its colour lol

 

[Jozlyn]

I love going snorkelling, how'd you be if you bumped into one of them! I think it would swear you off sea water for life!

 

[Dorkhedeos]

colossal squid are larger than giant squid i think. both are still scary though

 

[raptorrex]

WOW!!! That's amazing. Shame it didn't survive though.

my thoughts exactly, wow these are so rare and fantastic, so we kill one when we get the chance!!!!! It seems to be the first tennent of east asian marine biology to kill first and look after. god help us all.

 

[andywg]

It seems to be the first tennent of east asian marine biology to kill first and look after. god help us all.

It was caught by New Zealand fishermen. How on Earth can you blame this on East Asia? In fact, it didn't go near East Asia. It was caught in the Antarctic and brought back to New Zealand.

And the thing was caught by accident. It was eating another fish and was almost dead by the time it came up. Getting something that lives in such deep water up to the surface alive and intact will be extremely difficult due to decompression issues, as anyone who has done SCUBA or Commercial diving will appreciate.

 

[raptorrex]

It seems to be the first tennent of east asian marine biology to kill first and look after. god help us all.

It was caught by New Zealand fishermen. How on Earth can you blame this on East Asia? In fact, it didn't go near East Asia. It was caught in the Antarctic and brought back to New Zealand.

And the thing was caught by accident. It was eating another fish and was almost dead by the time it came up. Getting something that lives in such deep water up to the surface alive and intact will be extremely difficult due to decompression issues, as anyone who has done SCUBA or Commercial diving will appreciate.

ok, dont see many storys on these critters, but i understand the thing was eventually taken to japan for study. however, as you point out, there was no connection at the time of the catch.

on the decompression, thing, with a 2 hour fight to bring it onboard, would the squid, not have been able to control it decompression? as i know they are known, to be able to surface, if they so wish? (this is just for my reference as i have seen what happens to creatures, from deep down, many just simply expload)

i am aware it was almost dead when it came up, but fear that was more to do with fighting for its life, than the result of it comming up. but i still maintain it should have been released when they knew what they had. though the gear that had caught it may have caused problems in time, it would have been a better option, than death, which was without doubt, goint to be the result of a trip to the surface. that is if it were not for the bounty offered on these rare sea creatures. hence my east asian comment.

 

[Darkstar]

Most of these extra large squid as I understand it only ever come up to the surface when they are about to die anyway...much like the whale up the Thames.

 

[andywg]

on the decompression, thing, with a 2 hour fight to bring it onboard, would the squid, not have been able to control it decompression? as i know they are known, to be able to surface, if they so wish? (this is just for my reference as i have seen what happens to creatures, from deep down, many just simply expload)

2 hours would probably not be enough to come up from the true depths these things tend to reside at.

Saturation divers will dive to pretty deep depths (around 450 is the record IIRC), but from a living quarters that is pressurised to a similar depth. When decompressing from the living quarters to get back on the surface, the ascension rate appears to be in the region 1.5 metres per hour with a 4 hour hold every 24 hours (so a maximum of 30 metres per day). Once a depth of 15 metres is reached the rate slows to 0.5 metres per hour.

The above would mean that a 180m saturation diver would come up to the surface over a period of 7 entire days, give or take. However, As I understand, the rates we come up at are mostly to prevent nitrogen bubbles forming (otherwise known as the bends) rather then the effect on our bodies suddenly having completely different pressures on us.

The giant squid are believed to live at 1km or further down, so somthing in the region of 1000+ atmospheres of pressure. Coming up for them will provide some pretty large changes in pressure, not to mention the possibility of oxygen toxicity as it comes into waters likely to contain a higher saturation of oxygen than the deep.

It may be that they cannot survive up high at all. I can't recall any reports of one being seen anywhere near the surface and then heading back. I think every specimin has been dead or close to it upon capture.

 

[Fate2006]

HOLY CRAP! 990lbs!! That's a huge squid!

 

[Jules H-T]

The article said IIRC that no complete adult specimen had ever been found, so this heading up and down for a peek at the surface doesn't work. These creatures are born, live, and die, in the deep.

Just because they are rarely caught, doesn't mean they are rare- just that they do not feed in such a way that we catch them routinely through our hunting methods. If they were that rare, there would be no breeding colony for starters. These seem so rare to us because when an animal from the deep dies, it floats down to the bottom and is eaten. This sort of thing isn't going to float a mile up to the surface and turn up on Blackpool beach.

Chucking it over the side to die (which would have always been the result of hauling it up to the surface) would have been totally wasteful. Who knows what science will be able to glean from the carcass- what they eat, the differences between these and Giant squid, natural enemies, physiology, the state of the deep, how to protect the species generally.