The Ghost of Jules Vern would be very happy

[Dr Legostar]

Jeez, and I told lego- "Duuude, that thing is going to grow huuuge"

But he was like "noooo, my baby will die anyways. Putting him out to sea would be the best thing for him anyways."

See what you did lego?

Hey, I'm fairly certain that's not gary...

[War]

Tastes like piss unfortunately. I wanna see one of the collossal squid.

[Blackaby]

It's like watching Doc Ock all over again.

*joy*

[Ti-Phil]

Did I read right? They have small teeths in their tentacles? O_o

[Dr Legostar]

I wanna see one of the collossal squid.

I wanna see one of the collossal squids duking it out with a sperm whale. Now that would be a fight to see...

[Rkolter]

I wanna see one of the collossal squid.

I wanna see one of the collossal squids duking it out with a sperm whale. Now that would be a fight to see...

They've found sperm whales with two-foot-across sucker marks on their bodies. That's about as close as you're gonna get unless you get really lucky.

This guy caught 17 of these suckers as tiny babies? I never heard about that.

[Vorticus]

Verne was one imaginative guy.

[IVstudios]

Wait, there's a COLOSSAL squid? Am I to assume that it is even bigger than a giant squid, and if so why the hell have I never heard about it before? I'd think something like that would be just as famous, if not more famous than a Giant squid.

I guess the Giant squids must have a better agent.

[Dr Legostar]

Wait, there's a COLOSSAL squid? Am I to assume that it is even bigger than a giant squid, and if so why the hell have I never heard about it before? I'd think something like that would be just as famous, if not more famous than a Giant squid.

I guess the Giant squids must have a better agent.

I think it's more of a "yeah this thing is 25 feet long, but it's not that old yet and the older ones, are bigger"

[Ly]

In Tasmania there's one tree growing...it's the only specimen of it's kind. That's pretty impressive. Good news is the blokes who discovered and verified it won't tell any bugger where it is!

I heard there's something similiar in the Blue Mountains... grows by water but not one'll say where it is because some idiot will go and ruin the whole thing by cutting them down or something.

And I would assume that reasons we haven't been able to photograph the giant squid before now would be due to the fact that it moves a lot faster than things in the vast reaches of space. If you think about it, it's easier for a non-living telescope to photograph Mars (a big frickin' planet) than for a group of scientists in a little submarine to tell their little deep-diving robot to take pictures of a highly elusive, if monsterously big, creature in an area where the pressure of the water will turn you into pulp.

[McDuffies]

A squid that big probably has mean thick like shoe.

[Rkolter]

And I would assume that reasons we haven't been able to photograph the giant squid before now would be due to the fact that it moves a lot faster than things in the vast reaches of space.

Nope. things in the vast reaches of space move much faster than things in the ocean do. The Earth is moving 29.8 kilometers per second. Kinda sluggishly, really. But fast enough to cross the widest part of the atlantic in just over a minute and a half. These would have to be freakishly fast squid, and they'd leave huge tidal waves in their wake.

If you think about it, it's easier for a non-living telescope to photograph Mars (a big frickin' planet) than for a group of scientists in a little submarine to tell their little deep-diving robot to take pictures of a highly elusive, if monsterously big, creature in an area where the pressure of the water will turn you into pulp.

Not really. Space is far more vacant than the ocean is. We just happen to know where Mars is. If you imagine our solar system as a big ocean, Mars would be about the right size for a single giant squid, comparitively speaking. There are plenty of giant squid in the real ocean though... and only one Mars.

We can drop cameras, GOOD cameras, into the ocean at depths we know these things are found in. But we don't know where to look, and the chances that one will happen to swim by are excessively slim.

Plus, these damn things live deep. You don't find them near the coast where people could spot them (except dead), you don't find them at the surface (except very rarely) because the change in pressure can injure them. They're basically something you have to go down to find. And we just don't go down into the deep water near enough.

I read recently that the total time humans have spent in submersibles in the history of civilization isn't even equal to the total PER YEAR training time required for all the airline pilots in the US.

[Ly]

Good point.. but my basic point still stands. It's a lot easier to photograph something in space than in the ocean.

And I didn't quite realize that was as fast as things moved in space.. neat!

[Christwriter]

I read somewhere (scientific book on the deep ocean whose title I forgot) that we know more about the face of the moon than we do about the ocean floor. Just in terms of mapping stuff out.

Ocean is certainly weird enough. On tob of bad-tasting giant squid, they've got fish where the males grab the females and turn into large, sperm producing growths over time. Some kind of angler fish, I think.

CW

[War]

Wait, there's a COLOSSAL squid? Am I to assume that it is even bigger than a giant squid, and if so why the hell have I never heard about it before? I'd think something like that would be just as famous, if not more famous than a Giant squid.

I guess the Giant squids must have a better agent.

I think it's more of a "yeah this thing is 25 feet long, but it's not that old yet and the older ones, are bigger"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2910849.stm

[Vorticus]

I read somewhere (scientific book on the deep ocean whose title I forgot) that we know more about the face of the moon than we do about the ocean floor. Just in terms of mapping stuff out.

well that makes sense, atmosphere isn't nearly as light refracting as water.

[ManyWorlds]

Wait, there's a COLOSSAL squid? Am I to assume that it is even bigger than a giant squid, and if so why the hell have I never heard about it before? I'd think something like that would be just as famous, if not more famous than a Giant squid.

I guess the Giant squids must have a better agent.

I think it's more of a "yeah this thing is 25 feet long, but it's not that old yet and the older ones, are bigger"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2910849.stm

*click*
....
I am suddenly very glad I live inland...

[Rkolter]

So the next time you're in the ocean and you feel claws grab at your feet, it may not just be a pissed off crab. Hehehehehehe...

Love it.

Something BIG. HERE. And unknown.

[Dburkhead]

I read somewhere (scientific book on the deep ocean whose title I forgot) that we know more about the face of the moon than we do about the ocean floor. Just in terms of mapping stuff out.

Ocean is certainly weird enough. On tob of bad-tasting giant squid, they've got fish where the males grab the females and turn into large, sperm producing growths over time. Some kind of angler fish, I think.

CW

Once upon a time, that was true (relative knowledge of face of the moon vs ocean floor). After all, consider Galileo who described mountains on the moon at a time when nobody knew anything about the deep ocean floor. However, with modern techniques such as sonar mapping, satellite imaging, and what not, I'm not sure it's true anymore.

[ManyWorlds]

So the next time you're in the ocean and you feel claws grab at your feet, it may not just be a pissed off crab. Hehehehehehe...

Love it.

Something BIG. HERE. And unknown.

I am never swimming again...