crypto-nerding: live giant squid photos!

[anotheranon]

tommdroid and paranormal_news have the scoop, here and here.

You've got to understand - as a child I read all about the giant squid and kraken and remember being frustrated that scientists were unable to learn more from the occasional carcass that washed up. It was always hammered home that there was some uncertainty about just what the remains were because scientists had never caught or even seen a live one, and now that's changed.

This is the sort of thing my grandmother and I used to discuss - strange though it sounds, we bonded over unknown animals and paranormal stuff. It's a pity she didn't live to see this.

More on giant squid and octopi. Architeuthis Dux is the species in the photos. You can also Google for more on this story.

Can you tell that my inner crypto-geek child is coming out?

Comments

[jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com]

Yay! Giant squid are so cool! Has your inner crypto-geek ever encountered a book titled "Willy Ley's Exotic Biology"? ... there's a fascinating chapter on the mega-tentacled ones (plus many other unusual critters: real, mythical, and not-quite-sure).

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

No, I haven't run across that, but a quick Google search suggests Ley was something of a generalist in the field of weird, am I right?

[jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com]

Ley was fascinated by just about everything (man should have been a cataloguer ***grin***). "Exotic biology" was published in 1959 (I have a 1987 reprint) and many of the creatures in it are still mysteries today (although a few have been solved: we now know where eels lay their eggs). Thought you'd be interested in the chapter on giant squid; it's short, but very interesting because Ley cites a few obscure (to English speakers) Scandinavian sources from the 16th-18th centuries, as well as Pliny', and then makes some interesting points about the squidiness of ancient Greek representations of Medusa. He also discusses sea serpents and another of your favourites: the Loch Ness monster. :-)

Just an all 'round fun read as well as being the type of book that whets your appetite for a variety of threads of research, which is, IMHO, an ideal combination. Highly recommended.

[jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com]

Ah ... should have mentioned that Ley was a well-trained scientist; this book is not the usual type of crackpot spouting of "urban legend" one sees today, but a product of digging for primary sources and a willingness to show skepticism when those sources don't pan out. :-)