There is one less mystery in the deep sea: two Japanese researchers have finally photographed a live giant squid. It’s the first time one of the world’s largest cephalopods has been documented in its ocean home.

“It is just a sensational accomplishment,” says Dr. Mark Norman, a leading squid expert who appears in NATURE’s Encountering Sea Monsters.

The giant squid has long been the stuff of legend. Mariners claimed it sank ships and plucked sailors off decks. Even scientists admit it is a very mysterious creature. Dead specimens periodically wash up on beaches, but no researchers had ever seen one alive until recently.

First image of a live giant squid, known as Architeuthis.

Over the last decade, there’s been a race to change that. Some scientists have descended in submarines, hoping to catch a glimpse of one of the several known species of giant squid, which are believed to live in deep water, a thousand feet down or more, in oceans around the globe. Others have dragged camera-laden sleds across the ocean floor, hoping to take a portrait of one of these monsters, which are believed to grow up to 40 feet long.

Two Japanese researchers, Tsunemi Kubodera of Tokyo’s National Science Museum and Kyoichi Mori of the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association, had a different idea. First, they identified an area where fishing boat captains and tourists had seen sperm whales with sucker marks on their skin, indicating a confrontation with the giant squid. They rode out to the spot on a Japanese fishing boat. Then, they lowered a hook baited with a single small squid, nearly 3,000 feet down. Also attached to the line: an automated digital camera that snapped a picture every few minutes.

The two squid hunters had little luck for years. Then, on September 30, 2004, in the waters off Japan’s Ogasawara Islands, they succeeded. A squid about 25 feet long rose from the depths and took the bait. One of its arms got snagged on the hook. For more than four hours, it struggled to get free. Finally, the snagged tentacle broke off. By the time it was all over, the camera had snapped more than 500 pictures of the squid, which scientists call Architeuthis. When they pulled up the camera, the researchers retrieved the 5-foot-long tentacle tip as a souvenir. When Mori took it off the hook, he later told reporters, it was still moving. Its suckers even stuck on to the deck.

Architeuthis’ severed tentacle

The researchers studied their photos for more than a year, then publicly released them in a scientific journal in late 2005. The team explains that the photos show the squid hovering, “flying” through the water, and aggressively wrapping its tentacles around the bait. That suggests Architeuthis is “a much more active predator than previously suspected,” perhaps used to chasing and tracking down prey rather than waiting in ambush.

The Japanese researchers “were extremely clever on every level,” says Dr. Norman, a senior curator at Museum Victoria in Australia. “My guess is that everyone is going to be breaking down their door and asking for help over the next few years.” He says the next step will be to get moving pictures of this and several other species of giant squid that live deep in the ocean.

SubOptic 2010 Posted on Jun 27, 08 at 3:58 pm.

SubOptic 2010 will be held in Yokohama, Japan from May 11-14th, 2010. We are excited that this will be the first conference organised by SubOptic which will be co-Hosted by two organisations NEC/Fujitsu.

The SubOptic organisation exists to promote, foster debate, exchange ideas and act as an educational resource for the entire submarine telecommunications community.

With it's first convention held in 1986, SubOptic is a non-profit, mutual, non-incorporated international organisation. It is steered and sponsored by leading members of the community. However, it is open to every level of our industry, from those who manufacture cables and their components to purchasers of cable networks and system capacity to business analysts and investors.

A ping pong ball with fins? Meet the Pacific spiny lumpsucker (Part 1). Posted on Jun 26, 08 at 8:00 pm.

A ping pong ball with fins? Meet the Pacific spiny lumpsucker (Part 1).

Boat Insurance – Top Frequently Asked Questions Posted on Jun 26, 08 at 8:57 am.

If you're buying a boat or you already own one, boating or marine insurance is a necessity. This article cover the top frequently asked questions about boating insurance and why it's so important to have.

Boat Insurance – Find the Best Low Rate Policy – Find Great Coverage Posted on Jun 20, 08 at 2:29 pm.

If you own a boat it may be one of the largest purchases you have ever made, therefore it should be adequately protected. If you own a boat and have an accident then you will be responsible to pay for your own repairs as well as any damage you may do to any other boat. This is the reason you need to have boat insurance. Boat insurance operates in a very similar manner to any vehicle insurance you may have.

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