The Mysterious Giant Squid :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

The Mysterious heavyweight SquidAbout 80 percent of the Earth is covered in water. With the majority of living on this planet residing in the liquid we like to call the essence of life, we as humans represent a minority on this planet. Much of the subaqueous world remains a mystery to us, with the giant squid being one of the greatest mysteries of them all. How stiff are we to actually solving the mystery of this duncish water giant?For the first known citing of one of these cocks, you would have to go back to November of 1861, when crew members of the French dispatch steamer Alecton spotted what appeared to be a large sea monster off the coast of the Canary Islands. The crew threw harpoons at the creature, but those would not stay in the flesh for long. When the crew got close enough to put a noose around the creature, the rope tightened and cut through the animal, causing most of it to sink to the bottom of the sea. The crew, however, managed to pull the tail of the crea ture on board, and bring it back to the French Consul. From there the tail and a report about the creature made its way to the French Academy of Sciences. Giant squid, of which there are many different species, have been spotted less than fifty times in the last century, but none have been seen in their natural habitat, the depths of the sea, or caught on tape. It was initially thought that squids only lived very deep in the ocean from 200-1000 meters beneath the move up, an area very difficult for scientists to study. why then have these squids been seen at the oceans push through?According to Dr. Malcolm Clarke of the Marine Biological Association, temperature affects the squids buoyancy mechanism. The warmer, shallower water will driveway a giant squid to rise to the surface and not be able to get back down. With water temperature at its highest at the surface the squid would without a doubt not be able to get back down, thus resulting in people seeing giant squids at th e surface of the ocean.Occasionally, a giant squid will wash up on shore or will come up in a seek net, which has allowed scientists to get a close observation of these squid and their anatomy.