Giant Squid

On December 4, 2006, Japanese scientists videotaped this female giant squid alive.

CREDIT: Tsunemi Kubodera of the National Museum of Nature and Science of Japan/AP

The largest giant squid ever recorded was nearly 16 meters (50 feet) long and may have weighed nearly a ton. You’d think such a huge animal would be hard to miss. But the ocean is vast…and giant squid live deep down. So they remain elusive and are rarely seen. In fact, until a video was made in 2006, no scientist had ever filmed a giant squid. A female had just attacked bait suspended beneath a Japanese research vessel off the Ogasawara Islands. As the camera whirred, the research team pulled the 7-meter (24-foot) squid to the surface alive. The milestone event was recorded on videotape, enabling people around the world to finally see a living, breathing giant squid in action.