“Most amazing video you’ve ever seen”: Rare footage emerges of giant squid
Footage captured by scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Journey into Midnight project has shed some light on the elusive giant squid.
The video footage obtained by the crew shows the huge squid wrap its tentacles around the recording device before speeding off after realising that the device is not food.
The team have estimated that the juvenile squid is at least 3.7 metres in length.
The team wanted to be sure of their discovery and confirmed it with one of the world’s best squid experts, Michael Vecchione.
Giant Squid from OverSixty.com.au on Vimeo.
However, as the scientists are 160 kilometres off the coast of New Orleans, the weather can get pretty rough. A lightning strike knocked out the internet, so the team were anxiously waiting for it to come back online so that the sighting of the giant squid could be confirmed.
Luckily, Vecchione confirmed it was a giant squid.
Edie Widder, who was among the group of scientists exploring the Gulf of Mexico, said that the capture is “the most amazing video you’ve ever seen”.
Widder also explained why he thinks giant squids are “amazing”.
"It's got eight writhing arms and two slashing tentacles," Widder explained to Yahoo!
"It has the largest eye of any animal we know of, it's got a beak that can rip flesh.
“It has a jet propulsion system that can go backwards and forwards, blue blood, and three hearts. It's an amazing, amazing life form we know almost nothing about."
Widder was also part of the team responsible for the first time a giant squid was captured on camera off the coast of Japan in 2012.
Scientists observed that the squid was intrigued about the artificial jellyfish that is used to capture footage of creatures in the deep, which is affectionately referred to as the “Medusa”.