Giant Squid: Architeuthis

The Giant Squid is no doubt one of the most feared and accounted sea creatures of all time. Thought much folklore has been written and painted depicting Giant Squid as viscous creatures who indulge themselves on ships and their crew, in reality they are a very shy, timid invertebrate that frequents the depths rather than the surface. Their level of seclusion therefore makes them extremely elusive. So elusive that an adult Giant Squid was not filmed in it's true habitat until 2004. Frequenting the Mesopelagic and Bathypelagic Open Ocean zone, the 30+ foot squid tend to stay somewhere in the range of 4,000-10,000 ft deep. They have been found washed up on the shore of nearly every ocean and have a massive range that covers the entire planet.

Similar to other squid, the Giant Squid was 8 arms with two larger tentacles and a mantle, which is comprised of the torso section, housing all major organs and the squid's highly advanced nervous system. This nervous system is crucial to the survival of the squid. In the "Twilight Zone" as the Bathypelagic area has been called, sunlight is minimal and therefore finding prey in the vast, dark ocean would be extremely difficult without the use of highly tuned senses. Coupled with massive eyes that allow the squid to utilize all available light, their extreme senses are able to track prey in the darkest of areas. Typically, such prey would consists of other, smaller squid and deep sea fish. Once the squid is within range to use it's two tentacles, little can be done to save the victim as it is pulled into the mouth cavity where it is devoured by it's giant "beak" and serrated tongue.

In order to move, the Giant Squid pulses water through a hole in their mantle, producing a water jet that allows them to gracefully and rapidly if need be, glide through the depths. Two fin-like structures on the mantle help steer the squid as it pulses along. However, even with such amazing adaptations, they are not always fast enough to make a full escape of whales that often hunt them. Though several species of whale have been known to hunt the squid, the Sperm Whale is certainly the most successful, and because of this many scientists who research the squid have been said to follow packs of Sperm Whales to lead them to their specimens.

The squid's physical interaction with the ocean is widely unknown, but they undoubtedly utilize ocean currents when available to glide along and save energy. The chemical interaction with the ocean itself is also unknown, along with many other pieces of information simply because it is such an elusive creature. The squid have been known to frequent ocean shelves, pointing to a geologic interaction that mainly focusses on the availability of prey.

It is my hope that much more information will come out in the future about such an amazing creature and I look forward to learning more about it. The Giant Squid is a prime example of just how little we actually know about our planet.

SOURCES:

• Monster of the Deep. Rep. no. 02624079. 2406 ed. Vol. 179. Web. 23 Aug. 2003.

— "Giant Squid." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 02 May 2011. .

— "Giant Squid, Giant Squid Pictures, Giant Squid Facts - National Geographic." Animals, Animal Pictures, Wild Animal Facts - National Geographic. Web. 02 May 2011. .