Numerous legends and works of science fiction narrate the adventures of sailors whose ships were captured by octopuses and giant squids. One of the most famous stories concerns one of these tentacled creatures known in Norway as kraken (twisted animal), a name that has been applied in recent times to many types of large cephalopods.
Historical illustration of a science fiction account of the attack of a giant cephalopod.
Specimens like the ones in the image above are pure fantasy, but giant squids and giant octopuses exist, although they are not capable of swallowing ships.
Several species of these large marine invertebrates are known to survive in various parts of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans; despite the fact that scientific data and observations in their natural environment are very scarce (most of the sightings are by casual captures).
Known in Asturias as ‘peludín’
In our waters, the best known species is the Atlantic giant squid (Chief architect), which on the coast of Asturias is known as ‘peludín’.
Reproduction of a specimen of giant squid 17 meters long, in the Museum of Toulouse (France).
Various scientific teams have tried to improve knowledge about these inhabitants of the seabed and on some recent occasions have obtained images of living specimens.
The most effective method to achieve this is underwater robot cameras, operating automatically or remotely, in areas where decoys or prey have been placed.
One of the best videos of this type was achieved by the international team led by Nathan J. Robinson of the Cape Eleuthera Institute in the Bahamas. This team worked with a subsea fixed platform for more than 10 years in the Gulf of Mexico, near the Bahamas.
The first results of their research, with data and images of various species of giant cephalopods at depths between 557 and 950 meters, were published in June 2021 in Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers.
video-caption-title ">Video of the giant squid in action: it is not the ‘kraken’ of science fiction but it looks like it
One of the most popularly interesting data is that, using scientific means, it was calculated that the arms of the giant squid filmed (these cephalopods have eight arms and two tentacles) measure approximately 1.68 meters long.
Nathan Robinson’s team came up with their own solution to attract the squid so they could be filmed (with enough light). Because the eyes of giant squids are optimized to see the shorter wavelength blue light, they used a longer wavelength red light that would not disturb them in order to see the animals on video.
Finally, they added a bait: a fake jellyfish, a gelatinous mass equipped with lights that mimic the intermittent blue bioluminescence emitted by an atolla jellyfish. Although giant squid are not known to eat jellyfish specifically, they may be attracted to distress lights from this endangered species (which is why an imitation was used as a decoy).
Giant squid video details.
In 2019, they filmed the first issue of Chief architect
The hunting behavior of this giant squid was the most fascinating of all observed. The authors indicate that the animal tracked the platform (where the lure was) for about six minutes before attacking, suggesting that it was stalking its prey before moving in for the kill.
This observed behavior contradicts the assumption that giant squid are ambush predators, as previously stated in several articles. Rather, the animal appears to be an active hunter using visual cues to find food.
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