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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 09/27/2005 : 23:21:51
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It's been a long time coming, but a giant squid has been photographed quote:
PARIS (AFP) - Japanese zoologists have made the first recording of a live giant squid, one of the strangest and most elusive creatures in the world.
The size of a bus, with vast eyes and a querulous beak, Architeuthis has long nourished myth and literature, most memorably in Jules Vernes' "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," in which a squid tried to engulf the submarine Nautilus with its suckered tentacles.
Until now, the only evidence of giant squids was extraordinarily rare -- from dead squids that washed up on remote shores or got snagged on a long-line fish hook or from ships' crews who spotted the deep-sea denizen as it made a sortie near the surface.
But almost nothing was known about where and how Architeuthis lives, feeds and reproduces. And, given the problems of getting down to its home in the ocean depths, no-one had ever obtained pictures of a live one.
It's not much of an article and I couldn't find the pictures (I'm sure they'll be all over the net soon). I'm looking forward to hearing much more about it.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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DR_C
New Member
USA
22 Posts |
 Posted - 09/28/2005 : 00:57:37 [Permalink]
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Hello. Here are a couple pics of the squid in action and of the tentacle that was reeled up. Pretty cool (and a bit scary when you think about it).
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/09/photogalleries/giant_squid/index.html
I've been a lurker here for months (learned a quite a bit here as well), and since I stumbled upon the pics (actually found the link at digg.com), I'd thought I'd share them. These are the largest pics I've seen so far online. Hopefully they'll have the vid up soon.
Enjoy.
DR_C |
Fundie: "I believe God created me in one day."
Bill: "Looks like he rushed it."
The late Bill Hicks |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 09/28/2005 : 01:14:32 [Permalink]
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I've been waiting decades for this! Many thanks, Dr.C, and welcome to SFN! Looking forward to more of your input.
I look forward as well to more on this incredable creature, so long a mystery and the inspiration for so many myths.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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ocheewah
Skeptic Friend
USA
50 Posts |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 09/28/2005 : 11:07:32 [Permalink]
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http://www.pubs.royalsoc.ac.uk/proc_bio_content/pdf/RSPB20053158.pdf
Full paper available online. Interesting stuff.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 09/28/2005 : 11:11:31 [Permalink]
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http://pharyngula.org/images/giant_squid_lg.jpg
Larger pics at Pharynula.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 09/28/2005 : 12:28:50 [Permalink]
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Thanks guys. Excellent!
If A. dux is anything like the rest of the cephalopods, the lost tenticle will soon be regenerated.
What an amazing and mysterious animal!
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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GeeMack
SFN Regular
USA
1093 Posts |
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Hawks
SFN Regular
Canada
1383 Posts |
Posted - 09/28/2005 : 14:32:21 [Permalink]
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| Marvellous. Expeditions have tried this before (in New Zealand) and failed. Travel tips for y'all: The continental shelf of Kaikoura, New Zealand drops steeply quite close (~1km) to shore. It is thought that giant squid live in the deep waters there and this attracts their main predator - sperm whales. The sperm whales, therefore, come closer to shore (at least of any large landmass) around Kaikoura than anywhere else in the world. It's well worth the ~100 NZ dollars to take a sightseeing trip to see these animals (well, to see their flukes at least). |
METHINKS IT IS LIKE A WEASEL
It's a small, off-duty czechoslovakian traffic warden! |
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DR_C
New Member
USA
22 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2006 : 16:29:58 [Permalink]
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This probably pails in comparison to Architeuthis dux... still, a 45 kilogram giant octopus attacking your sub is nothing to laugh about.
http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2006/01/27/octopus060127.html
Thought you might be interested. I haven't been able to find the footage they are takling about, but I figure it'll turn up online before to long, hopefully. |
Fundie: "I believe God created me in one day."
Bill: "Looks like he rushed it."
The late Bill Hicks |
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steinhenge
Skeptic Friend
USA
69 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2006 : 16:51:37 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by DR_C
This probably pails in comparison to Architeuthis dux... still, a 45 kilogram giant octopus attacking your sub is nothing to laugh about.
http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2006/01/27/octopus060127.html
Thought you might be interested. I haven't been able to find the footage they are takling about, but I figure it'll turn up online before to long, hopefully.
Actually, there's video just to the right of the article, at the top of the page. Thanks for the link, very cool! |
| Edited by - steinhenge on 01/29/2006 16:53:17 |
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DR_C
New Member
USA
22 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2006 : 17:59:41 [Permalink]
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| Huh. I must have overlooked it. Sorry about that. Thanks for pointing it out. |
Fundie: "I believe God created me in one day."
Bill: "Looks like he rushed it."
The late Bill Hicks |
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Topic Locked
too.