Is there any scientific proof of giant squids existing?

Question

For example in movies where you see gigantic squids that are the size of ships.

Answer 1

Giant squid, once believed to be mythical creatures, are squid of the Architeuthidae family, represented by as many as eight species of the genus Architeuthis. They are deep-ocean dwelling animals that can grow to a tremendous size: recent estimates put the maximum size at 10 m (33 ft) for males and 13 m (43 ft) for females from caudal fin to the tip of the two long tentacles (second only to the colossal squid at an estimated 14 m (46 ft), one of the largest living organisms). The mantle length is only about 2 m (7 ft) in length (more for females, less for males), and the length of the squid excluding its tentacles is about 5 m (16 ft). There have been claims reported of specimens of up to 20 m (66 ft), but no animals of such size have been scientifically documented. On September 30, 2004, researchers from the National Science Museum of Japan and the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association took the first images of a live giant squid in its natural habitat.[1] Several of the 556 photographs were released a year later. The same team successfully filmed a live giant squid for the first time on December 4, 2006. Despite their great length, giant squid are not particularly heavy when compared to their chief predator, the Sperm Whale, because the majority of their length is taken up by their eight arms and two tentacles. The weights of recovered specimens have been measured in hundreds, rather than thousands, of kilograms. Post-larval juveniles have been discovered in surface waters off New Zealand, and there are plans to capture more such juveniles and maintain them in an aquarium in an attempt to learn more about the creature's biology and habits.

Little is known regarding the reproductive cycle of the giant squid, but what has been learned is that the male of the species has a prehensile spermatophore-depositing tube, or penis, of over 3 ft (90 cm) in length, which extends from inside the animal's mantle and apparently is used to inject sperm-containing packets into the female squid's arms — the means by which the sperm is transferred to the egg mass is a matter of much debate, but a recovery in Tasmania of a female specimen with a small subsidiary tendril attached to the base of each of its eight arms could be a vital clue to resolving the question. The giant squid lacks the hectocotylus used for reproduction in many other cephalopods.

Giant squid possess the largest eyes of any living creature—with the possible exception of those of the colossal squid—the eye being over 1 ft (30 cm) in diameter. The tentacles are equipped with hundreds of suction cups, each mounted on an individual "stalk" and equipped around its circumference with a ring of sharp teeth to aid the creature in capturing its prey by firmly attaching itself thereto by both suction and perforation. The size of the suction cups varies from 2 to 5 cm in diameter (1 to 2 in), and it is common to find their circular scars on the head area of sperm whales that have fed — or attempted to feed — upon giant squid. The only other known predator of the adult giant squid is the Pacific sleeper shark, found off Antarctica, but it is not yet known whether these sharks actively hunt the squid, or are simply scavengers of squid carcasses. Owing to the fact that sperm whales are skilled at locating giant squid, scientists have attempted to conduct in-depth observations of sperm whales in order to study squid.

One of the more unusual aspects of giant squid (as well as some other species of large squid) is their reliance upon the low density of ammonia in relation to seawater to maintain neutral buoyancy in their natural environment, as they lack the gas-filled swim bladder that fish use for this function; instead, they use ammonia (in the form of ammonium chloride) in the fluid of their flesh throughout their bodies, making it taste not unlike salmiakki. This makes the giant squid unattractive for general human consumption, although sperm whales seem to be attracted by (or are at least tolerant of) its taste.

As with all cephalopods, giant squid have special organs called statocysts to sense their orientation and motion in the water. The age of a giant squid can be determined by "growth rings" in the statocyst's "statolyth", analogous to determining the age of a tree by counting its rings. Much of what is known about giant squid is based upon estimates of the growth rings and from undigested beaks found in the stomachs of sperm whales.
Giant squid size, and particularly total length, has often been misreported and exaggerated. Reports of specimens reaching or even exceeding 18 m (59 ft) in length are widespread, but no animals approaching this size have been scientifically documented. Such lengths were likely achieved by great lengthening of the two long feeding tentacles, analogous to stretching elastic bands.[2]

Based on the examination of 105 specimens as well as beaks recovered from Sperm Whales, the giant squid is not known to attain a mantle length (ML) in excess of 2.25 m (7.4 ft).[2] Including the head and arms, but excluding the tentacles, Architeuthis very rarely exceeds 5 m (16 ft) in length.[2] Maximum total length, when measured relaxed post mortem, is estimated at 13 m (43 ft) for females and 10 m (33 ft) for males from caudal fin to the tip of the two long tentacles.[2]

Giant squid exhibit sexual dimorphism. Maximum weight is estimated at 275 kg for females and 150 kg for males.[
In December 2005, the Melbourne Aquarium in Australia paid AUD$100,000 for the intact body of a giant squid, preserved in a giant block of ice, which had been caught by fishermen off the coast of New Zealand's South Island earlier in the year. In early 2006, another giant squid, later named "Archie", was caught off the coast of the Falkland Islands by a trawler. It measured 8.62 m (28 ft) and was then sent to the Natural History Museum in London for study and preservation. It was put on display on March 1, 2006 at the Darwin Centre.[3][4] [5]Most giant squid specimens tend to be those that have washed up dead on beaches, or been retrieved from the stomach of sperm whales; they tend to be in quite poor condition. The find of such a large, complete specimen is extremely rare.

Giant squid researchers undertook a painstaking process to preserve the giant creature, which is now on show in a 9 m (30 ft) long glass tank. The first stage was to defrost it, after it spent the trip back to England on ice aboard the trawler. This thawing took about four days. The major difficulty was then the body of the animal — or the mantle. Thawing the thick mantle took much longer than the comparatively thin tentacles. To prevent the tentacles from rotting, scientists bathed the mantle in water, while covering the tentacles in ice packs, after which they injected the squid with a formol-saline solution to prevent rotting.

The squid now resides in a glass tank, filled to the brim with preservative solution, and is one of 22 specimens that can be seen as part of the behind-the-scenes Darwin Centre tour of the Natural History Museum.

On December 4, 2006, an adult giant squid was finally caught on video by Kubodera near the Ogasawara Islands, 1,000 km (620 miles) south of Tokyo. It was a small female about 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in) long and weighing 50 kg (110 lb). It was pulled aboard the research vessel but died in the process
hope this helps

Answer 2

Giant Squid Melbourne Aquarium

Answer 3

Hi F3tishgirl,
Fantastic question! There is indeed scientific evidence of the existance of the fabled Giant Squid.

The National Science Museum of Japan has inspected a number of specimens, and found that their sizes can reach up to 10 meters for a male and 13 meters for a female; not the sort of Squid you'd expect to see on your plate at Red Lobster!

You can read more about Giant Squid on WikiPedia at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_squid

Hope that answers your question!

Answer 4

I see where you're coming from but that's because YOU DO believe. if it's a possibility that someone is lying that does have to be taken into consideration.. and people aren't ALWAYS lying. some people even when they're wrong on what they actually witnessed doesn't mean that they don't believe that's what they saw.. (e.g.) you ever have to take a second look at something to realize what you were actually looking at? more often then not that is the case, whether "they" believe what they saw or not. I agree it would be 'rude' to accuse someone of those things right off the back to be a 'fact' that they are lying, hallucinating, etc. etc., but I don't see it as rude for consideration through a process of elimination. (edited) and the giant squid isn't the greatest analogy to use for an example only because bits a pieces of them have been washing up on shore for years.. so it'd be easier for someone to make up stories about them anyhow, knowing that someday they would be "found" since the knowledge of their actual existence was already known for quite some time)

Answer 5

Last month fishermen in the icy Ross Sea encountered a deep-sea giant.

Almost 20 feet (6 meters) long, with spiked tentacles and huge, protruding eyes, it was feeding on Patagonian toothfish caught on longlines set by the fishermen.

The creature was hauled aboard and taken to New Zealand for analysis. This confirmed the encounter as the first live sighting of a colossal squid.

Usually called Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, scientists who examined the Ross Sea specimen coined the term "colossal squid" to distinguish it from giant squid (Architeuthis). They say the species is the biggest and most fearsome squid known to science and could grow to 40 feet (12 meters) in length—longer than a whale.

Answer 6

They have found carcasses in the pacific. Because a squid's body is so delicate, the tentacles are usually gone by the time they wash up on shore. But given the size of the body, the tentacles are estimated to be up to 70 feet long.

So yes, giant squids did exist at one point and probably still do.

Answer 7

Yes... Giant squid have been washed up on beaches for centuries and every now and then a fishing boat will drag one up... In the bellies of sperm whales, when they were hunted, the whalers would always find the beaks of squid. These beaks, due to the size of them, prove the existance of big BIG squid too.
Recently a japanese cameraman caught a giant on film by baiting a huge cage and setting up a cam to film it... I'll try and find it and stick the link up. Otherwise, search yahoo video for it.

Answer 8

The Humboldt Squid is big. not as big as a ship but very deadly in a group.
Then there's the Giant Squid.
Biggest of all is the Colossal Squid that inhabits the South Seas around Antartica.
Most aggressive though is the Humboldt, but even Mexican fishermen can catch them using simple means (although it's a very dangerous job!).

Answer 9

A giant Squid was filmed live in Japan. It had 8m long tenticles.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4288772.stm

There are other squids known to grow larger than this though.

Here's a pic of a dead squid, it's huge. Not the size of a ship though, maybe a boat.
http://tolweb.org/Mesonychoteuthis_hamiltoni/19556

Answer 10

Yes, giant squids are real, but very little is known about them, but the collalsal squid, barely known much about at all, some things we do know, it dwells in the deeper reaches of the ocean and it has the biggest eyes of any creatures, they are also massive, bigger then the giant squids

Answer 11

Several giant squids have been found, washed ashore and dissected. More recently a larger breed of squid has been discovered, called the colossal squid.