It is one of the biggest critters in the ocean and has never been seen alive...until now.
February 27, 2002 1:46 PM   Subscribe

It is one of the biggest critters in the ocean and has never been seen alive...until now. The ultimate goal is to get living juveniles to aquariums on land and raise them until their bodies grow to about ten feet long. I'd pay to see one.
posted by piskycritters (29 comments total)
 
Sorry, I know there is not much of a controversy to comment on here, but I though it was cool enough to share up front. And before anyone asks about eating them, note that the flesh is supposed to taste quite bitter.
posted by piskycritters at 1:51 PM on February 27, 2002


Huhh, okay a ten foot long creature needs a few hundred feet to move around with. Otherwise it would probably die. So you'd need to build a torus shape, maybe, a few hundred feet in size. And it has to be pressurized.

Yeah I'd pay to see one of them. Jesus christ. Put it in the killer whale tank at SeaWorld and watch them duke it out.
posted by Settle at 1:55 PM on February 27, 2002


Two points:
  • I just had some yummy "salt and pepper squid" for lunch. I'm not sure if they were giant, but I couldn't finish them all.
  • An enhanced squid plays a central role in Stephen Baxter's Manifold Time -- its a great book, and one that I can recommend highly -- good characters, good science, and a good story.
posted by jeffbarr at 1:56 PM on February 27, 2002


Settle- why pressurized? If they're adapted gradually to the lower pressure as nymphs, they shouldn't need it as adults, I don't think. Am I missing anything?

I'd think *dark* would be more important to avoid blinding them...
posted by dissent at 2:03 PM on February 27, 2002


Oh, so cool. I have been waiting for this every since I saw the cover to the old Disney LP of "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea," the one with the lewd sailing songs. Thanks, piskycritters.
posted by j.edwards at 2:07 PM on February 27, 2002


The fact that they killed all of the baby squid in an attempt to study them is somewhat annoying.

Other than that, neat pictures. =)
posted by xyzzy at 2:13 PM on February 27, 2002


the squid could provide giant calamari rings the size of car tyres, but they'd taste like floor cleaner.

Probably nothing you couldn't fix with a few hundred gallons of marinara sauce.

Rest assured, if you cook it, someone, somewhere will eat it.
posted by groundhog at 2:22 PM on February 27, 2002


If they're adapted gradually to the lower pressure as nymphs, they shouldn't need it as adults, I don't think. Am I missing anything?

There's always the possiblity that as the squid develop they need increasing pressure in order to survive (need, as in physiologically need). In addition, low oxygen levels might be necessary (they have been for other deep sea creatures). In the cold deep ocean waters, giant squid metabolism would be slower - this might also be handy.

I'd think *dark* would be more important to avoid blinding them...

Wouldn't squid eyes be capable of light adaptation? I don't think that light levels in shallow waters can burn out photoreceptors.
posted by iceberg273 at 2:23 PM on February 27, 2002


Wow. Think how cool it was for European folk to see elephants or giraffes for the first time back before zoos and such. They're still pretty impressive animals, but they're commonplace now. Just head down to your local zoo or aquarium to see all sorts of "strange" creatures - and they're really not so strange.

But if anyone actually gets a giant squid in captivity, that will be brand new for everyone. I'm sure crappy illustrations of an unrealistic squid attacking a submarine can't hold a candle to simply seeing a real one jet about for a while... And if that's not exciting enough, what Settle said about the killer whales. Well, I guess that could only be a one time thing. Then maybe they could just sell tickets to watch feeding time.
posted by whatnotever at 2:30 PM on February 27, 2002


why pressurized? If they're adapted gradually to the lower pressure as nymphs, they shouldn't need it as adults, I don't think. Am I missing anything?

The ambient pressure is probably a growth signal for these guys. Since we don't know what type of signal (inhibitor, or stimulator) it might turn out to grow only to normal squid size or it might grow wildly out of control and end up the size of a subway station! :) My vote is for the latter.
posted by plaino at 2:36 PM on February 27, 2002


Put it in the killer whale tank at SeaWorld and watch them duke it out.

Coming up next, on FOX!
posted by ColdChef at 2:39 PM on February 27, 2002


I think the reason he said that the squid would taste bad was because it was perserved in a special fluid.

I would put money on these creatures not living very long at all. First of all, as mentioned earlier, I doubt they could provide a large enough tank, correct conditions, etc. Plus who would pay for the feeding costs? These things eat sperm whales! Unlike giraffes, lions and other exotic animals these creatures haven't been studied in the wild so virtually nothing is known about the correct conditions needed for it to survive.
posted by geoff. at 2:42 PM on February 27, 2002


Cthulhu f'tagn!
posted by Dean King at 2:47 PM on February 27, 2002


No, they don't eat sperm whales; whales eat them (by first stupefying them with a blast of sound from an organ in the skull). Based on the book I read, Architeuthis is a somewhat indiscriminate carnivore and will also eat other squid.
posted by joeclark at 3:26 PM on February 27, 2002


Alright then.
posted by geoff. at 3:35 PM on February 27, 2002


Okay, if they get one of these things to live in captivity then they are going to pay for it. I've seen "King Kong" and I know how the "giant creature in captivity" thing goes!

Run for the..um...dry land!
posted by Grum at 4:36 PM on February 27, 2002


awesome! someone found the sphere :)
posted by kliuless at 4:45 PM on February 27, 2002


Cthulhu f'tagn!

Gesundheit.
posted by Danelope at 4:48 PM on February 27, 2002


Maybe they could create clones from the baby squid DNA and breed an entire army of killer giant squid!!!

Get yer tartar sauce ready, boys, there's going to be a fight and I plan on eatin' calamari for years!
posted by briank at 5:22 PM on February 27, 2002


An aside: I liked how the article uses a jump button to skip over an imbedded ad. Nice, but I'm sure the advertiser is none too thrilled.
posted by xammerboy at 5:26 PM on February 27, 2002


The ultimate goal is to get living juveniles to aquariums on land and raise them until their bodies grow to about ten feet long.

Here's a better alternative: leave them alone. They don't belong in zoos, aquariums, or in tartar sauce for that matter. Let's not increase the suffering in the world by exploiting yet another life.
posted by fold_and_mutilate at 6:32 PM on February 27, 2002


"They don't belong in zoos, aquariums, or in tartar sauce..."

Exactly. I have to agree with groundhog above: marinara.
posted by umberto at 7:52 PM on February 27, 2002


We should also endeavor to disturb no blade of grass! Each living thing is precious! My Listerine has killed millions of bacteria and the guilt of genocide is destroying me!
posted by dhartung at 9:50 PM on February 27, 2002


Yeah, right, fold_and_mutilate. You'll be the first one up against the wall when the giant squid shamble their way up from the depths of the ocean and begin conquering humanity!
posted by Danelope at 10:55 PM on February 27, 2002


Someone tell me again why we'd want Cthulhu's Star Spawn on dry land?

Oh, hang on, I'll do it.
(Score: 1 - Redundant)
posted by Kikkoman at 11:09 PM on February 27, 2002


You'll be the first one up against the wall when the giant squid shamble their way up from the depths of the ocean and begin conquering humanity!

You laugh now. . .
posted by iceberg273 at 4:21 AM on February 28, 2002


Actually, researchers have cooked up giant squid. The problem appears to be that giant squid uses ammonia salts in its blood in order to achieve neutral buoyancy. If I remember right the taste was described as something like rubber marinated in ammonia. (Source: the search for the giant squid by Richard Ellis)
posted by KirkJobSluder at 9:39 AM on February 28, 2002


I agree with xyzzy. It is strange that their whole purpose is to study and protect these squid yet they just killed 10 in one swoop. It seems that the best way to protect them is to leave them alone. Haven't the only ones seen up to this point been dead already? It appears that they live ones are staying far away. Good for them.
posted by Stretch at 11:34 AM on February 28, 2002


That's an interesting article iceberg. Reminds me actually of Charles Sheffield's Heritage Universe books.

In them, the author proposed an alien species that was carnivorous, voracious, propogated at an incredible rate...and was also very squidlike. Scared the crap out of me when I was reading the books, because they were just so plausible (well, aside from that pesky pressure requirement).
posted by Kikkoman at 9:43 PM on February 28, 2002


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