The Hunt for the Giant Squid is Underway

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. The same team successfully filmed a live adult giant squid for the first time on December 4, 2006. Now a team comprised of the Discovery Chanel, the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and technology (JAMSTEC), and the Japanese broadcaster NHK will be boarding the yacht Alucia to bring back film of the animal in it’s natural environment. The vessel will have three submersibles including the Triton 3300/3, which can reach depths of up to 3,300 feet. Architeuthis is known to frequent depths of 400 feet or more. Inside the Triton a three-person crew can get a good view through the spherical acrylic cockpit. Scientists will use varied methods for attracting the animal including injections of pheromones into the water; optical lures that mimic bioluminescent displays, and baited long lines that will hang from the surface. The images that were acquired in 2004 used the method of placing a downward-facing camera, with bait just below it, which was dangled on a line more than a thousand feet long. After three seasons and a couple of dozen attempts, a giant squid finally took the bait, and the automated camera took the pictures—one about every 30 seconds.