Giant Squid Caught On Video

Commentary by Deep Sea News announcing giant squid video with additional history of the search.

A new (1/7/2013 posting)higher quality video of the first architeuthis brought to the surface (Japanese, no subtitles)
 
Hmmm. Commenter at Deep Sea News link claims that Ku sneak-previewed footage at 2012 Cephalopod International Advisory Council Symposium, just weeks ago. If true, and if Ku showed it to a crowd (and not just a friend or two), there must be some reactions and/or descriptions floating around out there, unless the ceph geek code of silence is stronger than I'd thought it to be.

Clem
 
One of my PhD students saw some of the footage presented by the venerable Kubodera himself, at this years http://www.ciac2012brazil.com.br/ conference. Apparently its not only the real deal, but absolutely amazing….

I suspect the commenter or his "student" are blowing smoke or going on hearsay. We had a pretty good representation at the conference in Brazil (at least four of our members) and not one word about a video by Ku was mentioned. His is not a presentation that would have been missed by any of the three "squidologists" in NZ (Kat, Aaron and Heather).
 
A couple of resources for the uninitiated

or for anyone who wants to refresh their memory of giant squid knowledge/exploration

I have a copy of
Pirates of the deep - Stories of the Squid and Octopus by Paul Bartsch, Curator of Marine Invertebrates, US National Museum pages 347-375 of the Smithsonian Report for 1916.

There is quite a long section in the pamphlet about the giant squid including tall tales, documented recovery and particularly about a huge die off that anyone interested in the history of our knowledge of this critter will enjoy reading.

It is available on Google books as a free ebook. The giant squid material starts on 364 with undocumented spottings and fish tales. Documented findings start on 366.

In searching for the above pamphlet, I came across an on-line summary of giant squid exploration with one of the famous squid researchers that was not on this expedition (pity) but has spend a lot of time (including a 1999 submersible expedition) studying the animal. Something tells me Clyde may still see his in situ animal ...
 
Clem;195148 said:
Hmmm. Commenter at Deep Sea News link claims that Ku sneak-previewed footage at 2012 Cephalopod International Advisory Council Symposium, just weeks ago. If true, and if Ku showed it to a crowd (and not just a friend or two), there must be some reactions and/or descriptions floating around out there, unless the ceph geek code of silence is stronger than I'd thought it to be.

Clem

That would appear to be the case Clem, based on what I read there also (I never went to the CIAC conference so cannot know for sure); I would be surprised if Ku showed any of the footage, but .... it doesn't bother me if he did.
 
I can't believe he showed it openly as one of our members would have seen it. I asked GPO87 to comment but it appears he is ignoring me (or just has not seen the request :roll:
 
There is a local precedent for biologists going rogue and sneak-previewing Discovery-owned footage. A few years ago, Greg Skomal, a State Marine Fisheries employee and the go-to guy for media inquiries about Cape Cod's growing great white population, gave a public presentation in my town. A few months earlier, he'd shot a Discovery special about those sharks. "I could get in a lot of trouble for showing this," he said, then treated us to some great footage of an 18-footer rolling on top of Skomal's cage.

Clem
 
Clem, I am not arguing the possibility, only the if anything was shown OPENLY, one of the four (two being staff) would have mentioned it, even if only as a teaser. That does not rule out a semi-private showing that they could have missed.
 
I ain't arguin' nothin.' Just pointing out that Steve and Ku aren't the only marine biologists frustrated by Discovery's hoarding tendencies.

Clem
 
LOL, argue was a bad choice of words, my bad.

Keeping it under wraps until they get around to presenting (they DID pay for it and DID plan over an extended period to get the results) bothers me less than what they present. From some of the docos we have watched and seen obvious reuse in multiple expeditions (not just Discovery) it seems that the get a lot of very good film but then cut it up so badly that you only get glimpses of what you want to see and it is disjoint. As a viewer, I find it frustrating. I am sure they do studies on attention span but I can't believe that they would not get better viewing with more complete exposure.
 
DWhatley;195202 said:
I can't believe he showed it openly as one of our members would have seen it. I asked GPO87 to comment but it appears he is ignoring me (or just has not seen the request :roll:

WOW! Sometimes... I completely miss threads until weeks later. Sorry D. There was no secret video leaked at CIAC as far as I know. The video Ku showed was one about flying squid (which I mentioned in my review). Believe me, I would have let you know if I had seen something that amazing!
 
Couldn't Nippon and Discovery sue him for pre-screening footage anyways? I'm sure they all had to sign NDA's. (NDA specifically geared towards the visual part, not the commentary part)
 
I was lucky enough to stumble over a high quality video on YouTube that was very briefly hosted last night - I'm afraid it has been pulled for some reason so I can't share it. However what I saw was astounding - you will all love it when you get to see it. Architeuthis has grace and beauty, it looks simply beautiful as it pulls away.
 

Shop Amazon

Shop Amazon
Shop Amazon; support TONMO!
Shop Amazon
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Back
Top