Living GS photo (Japan '03) text translated at last!

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Nov 20, 2002
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Don't know what brought me back to this eye-mazing photo, but I recently posted it to the Metro Anime list as an OT curiosity with a request for translation of the text (after a year of lessons, my Nihongo reading skills are still on the elementary-school level). Here's the URL again, followed by a translation courtesy of Rich, a Japanese-speaking MA member:

http://www.pref.kyoto.jp/kaiyo/2-topicnews/news/2002/02-02-01/mega-squid/mega-squid-01.html

"Giant Squid Appears!!"

On Jan 15th, a giant squid that spans two meters long (as long as 4 meters w/ tentacles extended) was caught near the coast of Goshikihama in Amino. Later it became clear that that it is a kind of "Daioh-ika" (Squid King) after inquiring Professor Tsuchiya of the Tokyo University of Fisheries. Most Daioh-ika are found in the stomach of sperm whales, but compared to the others, the one caught this time could very likely be a new species with thicker tentacles. So far, there is only one complete specimen in the whole world, collected from nearly 30 years ago in the Tottori Prefecture. It will be sent to the Kokuritsu Science Museum as a valuable specimen for further research. A big thank you goes to the locals who helped capture and transport the squid, Mayor Yoshino who provided the photographes, and Chief Nakagawa of the Dept. of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Amino.


In my MA post, I mistakenly described the Daioh-ika as having been identified as an Archi by Steve-O -- but now I realized my memory was imperfect and he only identified it as a bona fide, live big squid, not necessarily an Archi. Anyone know the exact species? If so, I'll post the correct ID to the MA list (as if any of my otaku buddies cared about such things :biggrin2: ), just not to be accused of misquoting our favorite Teuthsome Teuthologist!

PS: Metro Anime translator Rich commented that this pic of a "monstrosity" was "fascinating, yet disgusting". Obviously not a cephalophile! What do you think of the photo? [see Poll]

Surfacing again,
Tani
 
Thanks for the link Clem. I've read through the thread now. It's a shame that whoever it was saw fit to alter the image (since reading the thread, I loaded it up in Photoshop Elements and blew it up as others on the thread had done, and yes, there's definitely a block of altered pixels round the eye).

Someone on the thread asked if anyone had any copies of the unaltered photos, did anything come of that?
 
Now we just need Mayor Yoshino's e-mail address to request some high-res pics. We can dream.

Oh, and welcome back Tani!
 
Clem said:
As confirmed by Dr. O'Shea, it is Architeuthis. Click here to link to TONMO's "Living Architeuthis" thread.

CapnNemo, it has been suggested that the eye in the photograph was given a tweak in Photoshop (or an equivalent program) to sharpen it up.

Tani, it's nice to see you again.

Cheers,
Clem


But the tentacles are a little thick, arn't they? But why? A new sub-species? Muatations? My ignorance?
 
Whoa!! How did I miss this piece of news back in '03? Geez, this is something I've been wanting to see for years. Too bad it was probably in the process of dying when the film was taken.
 
I came across a webpage about giant squid sightings, and I found something strange: a photo of a large squid following a jig at the surface, and it was said to be architeuthis. I have the photo here(and a second one; not sure if it was two pictures of a giant squid) and this is the webpage.

Informasi Menarik Seputar Judi Togel Online - the-emperor.org


You'll find the link to the photos under the 'Japan 2003' heading.
 

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Hi Squidman,

Thanks for the images. Emperor is a moderator for the illustrious Fortean Times website and often contributes to this site; I'd imagine this is where he picked the photos up. These two images have been discussed before in the thread Clem has linked to above.

Unfortunately many of the images were lost when TONMO had an overhaul a few months ago but hopefully you should get the gist of the discussion. There's a lot of interesting information and speculation there.

It is indeed quite likely that the second photo is indeed a living Architeuthis, but unfortunately this cannot be confirmed at the present time. Or if it can, no-one is letting on....
 

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