September 28, 2005
Everybody's seen it now, I'm sure - the first photos of a live giant squid.
They estimate the squid to be 26 feet in length; the largest on record is 59 feet in length. That's ten times as tall as me, with twice as many appendages. Toe to toe (sucker?), that giant squid is sure to kick my ass in a fight.
So what do they do while photographing this aquatic monster? THEY TEAR ONE OF ITS TENTACLES OFF. If I can briefly call your attention to the fact that the total cephalopod biomass now exceeds that of humans (check the bottom of the first page), I think one thing is clear: We do not want angry cephalopods.
If these things learn to walk and breathe out of the water and/or talk to dolphins, we're screwed.
Update:This Grady Hendrix fellow seems to know exactly what I'm talking about, and Slate points out that in addition to giant squid, there's an even more terrifying Colossal Squid, with "a larger beak than the giant squid and hooks on its tentacles." Humans? Doomed.
Posted by starlen at September 28, 2005 10:46 PM
