The Hunt for the Giant Squid is Underway
Rhonda Moniz
September 7, 2012
A group of researchers on the west coast are on a quest to capture the giant squid Architeuthis dux. Thus far the creature has eluded scientists, and has only been seen dying or dead either washed up on beaches or close to dying at the surface. Several have been caught up in fishing nets. This species of squid is the worlds largest invertebrate growing to lengths of 45 feet in females and weighing in at 600 pounds. Males range in at about half that size. On September 30, 2004, researchers from the National Science Museum of Japan and the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association took the first images of a live giant squid in its natural habitat. Several of the 556 photographs were released a year later.