Noah Baumbach's film "The Squid and the Whale" has complicated image searches a litttle bit, but if you can wade through all the pictures of Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney there are still oddities to be found. Like this:

Aerial Photo of Giant Squid(s)? (http://community.webshots.com/photo/83514411/83515190kKUcFr)

The photo caption reads: "Two whales (or is it one whale and a giant squid?)" The image is part of a slideshow, and was apparently one of a series taken in July of 2003 during an overflight of the waters around Ningaloo Reef, Australia. For a detailed overview of the Ningaloo environment, click here. (http://www.deh.gov.au/coasts/mpa/ningaloo/plan/description2.html)

Given how difficult it is to distinguish between, say, an aerial photograph of a mobile bio-weapons laboratory and an abandoned trailer, I don't dare guess what this is a photograph of, but I must say that there is something very squiddy about it, even if it's only a superficial resemblance. A boy can dream.

Happy Holidays.

Cheers,
Clem

I stared at that picture for a long time.

That is all.

I stared at that picture for a long time.

That is all.
Hello Tony,

It's an hypnotic picture isn't it? If only I could force my brain to see "whale" instead of "two spawned-out and/or trawled giant squid floating at the surface with fanned arms and mantles and tails hanging below the surface."

That is all.

Clem

looked squiddy to me

The left figure (Presumed Squid) seems to have its mantle missing, but the location where the mantle should be has this werid shadow thing. If it's a squid, then is the mantle just deeper than the arms (ammonia thing?) or is that something else?

The right figure (Also presumed squid) is even more intriguing as the mantle's color and arms do not match, if they were trawled, then the mantle and the head should both be bout the same color or do dying/dead squids lose their skin on the mantle first? And the fin is kinda werid, it looks more like a triangular cone shape rather than two fins, with the mantle looking too straight to be a dead/dying squid's body.

So..any thoughts?

It's an hypnotic picture isn't it?
It absolutely is. It does appear to be two squid on a romantic cruise... or to Chrono's point, being so near the surface would likely be dead or dying... but if they were in that state, they wouldn't likely seem so chummy, would they? (Well, I guess they are kind of chummy, depending on which definition you're using...) :smile:

Very interesting picture. I really can't make out a whale shape at all though.

The beast(?) on the right appears to have some form of ring around the mantle rather than a pair of fins. Obviously that's impossible for a squid, maybe it's a trick of the light?

Really couldn't guess at this one.

http://www.tonmo.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1809&stc=1&d=1135160729

I gotta say I cant make out diddly squat :grin: Did anyone ID them at the time or where they just geussing?

Given how difficult it is to distinguish between, say, an aerial photograph of a mobile bio-weapons laboratory.... so thats where Saddams been hiding those damn things all this time. :lol:

Interesting. They look more like Aurora's underwater...where are the compression cones?

Regardless of latitude, I would place most of my life's savings on Southern Right Whale, mother and calf, the latter distinguished by its (juvenile) lighter colouring. "Tentacles" are merely their frothy wake, OK, spoilsport, sorry, It's obviously two hitherto unknown Cryptoteuthis griseus (Blaauw, 2005) specimens :smile:

Regardless of latitude, I would place most of my life's savings on Southern Right Whale, mother and calf, the latter distinguished by its (juvenile) lighter colouring. "Tentacles" are merely their frothy wake
Hello OB,

Interesting idea, but you'd expect the wakes to be, well, in their wakes, i.e. next to what appear to be these objects' "tails." Unless...mother and calf (if that's what we're looking at) ascended vertically, executed partial breaches and then slid back and down on their tails, leaving frothy head-prints on the surface.

Perhaps Greg is right, and it's just a pair of hypersonic spy planes playing splashy-splashy.

Cheers,
Clem

For comparison, whatch the frothy "tentacles" in the left thumbnail and the grey vs. black colour difference in the right one... You can actually make out the front callosities on our left hand mystery "squid", although resolution is quite poor. The latter probably accounts for the (suggested) wakes to be able hide the (suggested) whales' flukes from sight.

Olaf "Mythbuster" Blaauw

but zee color of the whales are wrong, and how do you explain the fin like objects?

Seems to me that they are the wrong colour to be squid, being grey. I'm going for whales and blurry photoraphy.

Hmmm.

Ningaloo is host to sperm whales, humpbacks, the odd blue whale, whale sharks, seals and various dolphins. Also: dugongs. I haven't caught any references to basking sharks; their inflated gills (puffed out for filter-feeding) might explain what looks like a strong demarcation line near the pointy end, which I've taken for a distinct tail. A basking shark ID might also explain the "arms," if the sharks' dorsal and/or upper caudal fins were breaking the surface: the current and wind flowing past the exposed fin tips might create such wakes.

These objects look purplish in color to me.

Clem

I'm going for whales and blurry photoraphy.

Party pooper.

Let's poop the party a bit more, then :smile:

This usually works well for contrast, inverting colours: "POP", out come the tail flukes! Sperm whale might be possible, given the dimensions. Sperm whales, however, travel alone (bulls) or in family groups more often than paired, which in fact SRW's do a lot; it's all they do, it's WHAT they do,..., and they never stop!!!

PS: The assumed "hood" or fins on the right hand Cryptoteuthis IMHO is a wave crescent, but I'll leave that to the sceptics to decide :confused:

Hey, nice work on this, ob! I think I can stop staring now! :smile:

Let's poop the party a bit more, then :smile:

This usually works well for contrast, inverting colours: "POP", out come the tail flukes! Sperm whale might be possible, given the dimensions. Sperm whales, however, travel alone (bulls) or in family groups more often than paired, which in fact SRW's do a lot; it's all they do, it's WHAT they do,..., and they never stop!!!

PS: The assumed "hood" or fins on the right hand Cryptoteuthis IMHO is a wave crescent, but I'll leave that to the sceptics to decide :confused:

You spoil all and I do mean all the fun!

But inverting colors just made them more "cephish" to me.

You spoil all and I do mean all the fun!

But inverting colors just made them more "cephish" to me.

No sweat chrono war, just trying to hide my deep cryptozoological convictions, I do that well enough by now :wink:

Olaf

I'm with ob since I have seen the pictures at first time.

That are 2 whales for sure. Don't forget that the squids only goes near surface when it is dark. Never when the sun is shining. Impossible to be giant squids.

Maybe the hope of obtain more new info about this huge animals make us see something that no exist ( in the picture of course).

See you.

Feliz Navidad, Oktoputeao, pour some cava into you, accompanied by a sufficient amount of pata negra (5 bellotas, minimum) if you can help it :party:

You never know, after enough of the good stuff, you might even revert into a Cryptotheutis griseus believer :grin:

Deep Ones on vacation.

Positively.

Feliz Navidad, Oktoputeao, pour some cava into you, accompanied by a sufficient amount of pata negra (5 bellotas, minimum) if you can help it :party:

You never know, after enough of the good stuff, you might even revert into a Cryptotheutis griseus believer :grin:

Thanks guy. Good Xmas also to you ( My Neerlandes ( Holland language in PP.CC's language, not the same like in Spain) is very bad. I only now Marihuana, Ronald Koeman and de Boer Bros., Van Gogh and Van Gaal:wink: But you know a lot of spanish ( cava comes from PP.CC= Catalonian countries )

See you in next occasion.:notworth: