After decades of searching, and two centuries of legend, a team of scientists from Japan has captured, on film, a Giant Squid, previously known only from anecdotes and dead specimens. Here's the story from the Times (non-subscription.)
It was only a small one, apparently, at 26 feet, but an aggresive little guy: On Sept. 30, 2004, a squid attacked the lowest bait on a rig that was positioned about 1,000 feet above the seafloor. Giant squid have eight short arms and two long tentacles. During the attack, the squid wrapped its two long tentacles like a ball around the bait, the researchers report.
One of the squid's tentacles was caught, and the creature moved violently in the next four hours to break free. It was often out of camera range, suggesting, the scientists say, that it was attempting to swim free.
After 4 hours 13 minutes of struggle, the animal tore away, leaving a tentacle behind.
That is a big and nasty fellow, no?
(photo from: http://channels.isp.netscape.com/news/story.jsp?flok=FF-APO-1501&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20050928%2F0148133060.htm&sc=1501&floc=isp-14&related=off&from=news)
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