courtesy dan aplin
Reverend Harvey eventually sent the specimen down to New Haven, Connecticut, to a young scientist named A. E. Verrill, who would compile with his artist colleague, James Emerton, the first scientific study and set of illustrations of giant squids that had ever been published anywhere in the world. From these specimens, and others that were sent down from Newfoundland, Verrill and Emerton created the first accurate model of a giant squid, a 40-foot-long plaster structure that was displayed at the International Fisheries Exhibition in London in 1883. Giant squid are deep-sea animals. In order to survive in the dark, they have eyes as big as soccer balls. They are not known to spend any time at the surface at all—unless they’re dead—at which point they are quickly eaten by sharks and seabirds. Their primary predators are sperm whales, smaller toothed whales, and large fish, such as swordfish and tuna. By now, there are roughly 50 or so known complete specimens of giant squid in collections around the world, usually stored in formalin or in freezers. These are among some 500 recorded ever, anywhere, found in a range of physical states—just the mantle here, only three arms washed up there—that were once measured and recorded carefully or whose length a biologist, beachcomber, fisherman, or whaleman estimated out in the field. Often giant squid parts were found inside the stomachs of sperm whales or vomited out when the animals were being chased or killed. Since Reverend Harvey’s photograph, other photos of dead, beached squid have been published on occasion, but it was not until 2004 that a Japanese biologist named Tsunemi Kubodera was able to capture a photograph of a living giant squid—on a baited trip line at nearly 3,000 feet deep. The tentacles of giant squid can get stretched out, but if Harvey’s giant squid were indeed about 32 feet in life, as estimated, this would be about average for adult females, which are larger than males. Current biologists, based on collected parts and growth rates, believe that there are 50-foot, or maybe even 60-foot long giant squids somewhere out there. Needless to say, if you see one, of any length, be sure to snap a photo, as did this diver last year in New Zealand! A freshly-dead giant squid that washed up on the southern coastline of Wellington, New Zealand, in 2018. Giant squid are mostly red, but can turn white in death and their outer red skin can also get scraped off by the sand of a beach.
For more “Animals in Sea History” go to www.seahistory.org or educators.mysticseaport.org.
“Sea History for K ids” is sponsored by the Henry L. & Grace Doherty Charitable Foundation
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