# Anyone else a little...underwhelmed by the giant squid? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 26, 2006, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-a-little-underwhelmed-by-the-giant-squid/385661 "2006-12-26T21:10:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-a-little-underwhelmed-by-the-giant-squid/385661/1 "2006-12-26T21:10:11Z")
They’ve been all over the news the last few days, you can still see the video on the [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) front page, and while they are certainly very interesting i just didn’t think they where all that impressive. They are very big and i hope i never run into one, but Giant? eh, i guess i had something a lot bigger in mind when i thought about Giant Squids. Maybe it comes from reading 20,000 leagues under the sea at a very young age and becoming obsessed with sea monsters but i really was hoping for something much bigger, am i the only one? ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-a-little-underwhelmed-by-the-giant-squid/385661/2 "2006-12-26T21:12:07Z")
You might have been thinking of “colossal squids.” They’re the really big scary ones. ---
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-a-little-underwhelmed-by-the-giant-squid/385661/3 "2006-12-26T21:13:31Z")
Giant only takes them up to ~44 ft for females and ~34 ft for males, so they’re not the 20,000 Leagues size, only the stuff of nightmares. – IG ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-a-little-underwhelmed-by-the-giant-squid/385661/4 "2006-12-27T02:30:32Z")
So you were hoping for something more like [this](http://www.niftyfiftyscifi.com/ICFBS/25.jpg)? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-a-little-underwhelmed-by-the-giant-squid/385661/5 "2006-12-27T02:36:29Z")
After you’ve been around here a while, you get used to squid. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-a-little-underwhelmed-by-the-giant-squid/385661/6 "2006-12-27T02:51:24Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] After you’ve been around here a while, you get used to squid. [/QUOTE] [Dieter]_Welcome the squid! Looooove the squid!_[/Dieter] ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-a-little-underwhelmed-by-the-giant-squid/385661/7 "2006-12-27T06:07:53Z")
[QUOTE=tremorviolet] So you were hoping for something more like [this](http://www.niftyfiftyscifi.com/ICFBS/25.jpg)? [/QUOTE] That’s an octopus, same family as the [kraken](http://www.thecinemasource.com/moviesdb/images/Pirates_of_the_Caribbean_Dead_Mans_Chest%20-%2029%20-%20Kraken.jpg). Squid have typically got those little canard winglets near the tops of their longer heads. ---
**Author:** ![merrily](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@merrily](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merrily)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-a-little-underwhelmed-by-the-giant-squid/385661/8 "2006-12-27T12:46:10Z")
They said this one was only half grown. Didn’t it look cruel to you? I mean, that squid looked like it was writhing in pain to me. Wow, look, something rare! Let’s kill it! And then they wonder why the squid hide… ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-a-little-underwhelmed-by-the-giant-squid/385661/9 "2006-12-27T17:14:56Z")
Well, if I was swimming along and this thing came up to me, I’d be nice as pie and I do not think I would laugh and ridicule it a bit. Bet it would look plenty impressive to me also. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-a-little-underwhelmed-by-the-giant-squid/385661/10 "2006-12-27T17:20:12Z")
[QUOTE=merrily] They said this one was only half grown. Didn’t it look cruel to you? I mean, that squid looked like it was writhing in pain to me. Wow, look, something rare! Let’s kill it! And then they wonder why the squid hide… [/QUOTE] oh, brother and oh, **how** is that typical! just what the world’s oceans need: the japanese shooting something else rare and wonderful into extinction/near extinction. poor thing didn’t have a chance. we are talking about the japanese here. as it is, they’d just as soon shoot and kill a whale or a seal. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-a-little-underwhelmed-by-the-giant-squid/385661/11 "2006-12-27T19:11:57Z")
Is [this](http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/12/22/giant.squid.ap/index.html)the CNN-link referred to in the OP? If it’s just their size, most of these beasties are unimpressive compared to the stuff of myths. What makes them really interesting is their intelligence and behavior. Anyone seen that documentary where man-sized squid played with divers, tested them, tried to eat them, and then left? The look on their faces, the way thay talked among themselves with colors flashing… if I need a picture of humans encountering space aliens, this is as close as it gets, IMHO. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-a-little-underwhelmed-by-the-giant-squid/385661/12 "2006-12-27T20:24:09Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] That’s an octopus, same family as the [kraken](http://www.thecinemasource.com/moviesdb/images/Pirates_of_the_Caribbean_Dead_Mans_Chest%20-%2029%20-%20Kraken.jpg). Squid have typically got those little canard winglets near the tops of their longer heads. [/QUOTE] Shoot, I know it’s an octopus but I don’t remember any great cheesy ole giant squid movies. 'Sides, I think if a giant squid decided to attack San Francisco, it’d probably follow the same method of attack as a giant octopus. (obviously, it’d have to go after the bridge for the photo ops alone…) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-a-little-underwhelmed-by-the-giant-squid/385661/13 "2006-12-27T23:27:03Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] That’s an octopus, same family as the [kraken](http://www.thecinemasource.com/moviesdb/images/Pirates_of_the_Caribbean_Dead_Mans_Chest%20-%2029%20-%20Kraken.jpg). Squid have typically got those little canard winglets near the tops of their longer heads. [/QUOTE] Actually, **tremorviolet** ’s link is a hexapus. The cheapos who made the movie would only pay for six tentacles. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-a-little-underwhelmed-by-the-giant-squid/385661/14 "2006-12-28T00:16:41Z")
[QUOTE=Maastricht] Is [this](http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/12/22/giant.squid.ap/index.html)the CNN-link referred to in the OP? If it’s just their size, most of these beasties are unimpressive compared to the stuff of myths. What makes them really interesting is their intelligence and behavior. Anyone seen that documentary where man-sized squid played with divers, tested them, tried to eat them, and then left? The look on their faces, the way thay talked among themselves with colors flashing… if I need a picture of humans encountering space aliens, this is as close as it gets, IMHO. 🆒 [/QUOTE] There are only two nature videos on this planet that have ever spooked me. One was a video of a capybara wandering into a piranha pond that was drying up and filled with starving piranhas. They immediately burrowed a hole in its side and ate it from the inside out in just a few minutes. The one that topped that however was a squid video like you described. Divers went down in a shark cage among some mid-sized squids (humbolts I believe). I had always heard that quid are intelligent but I was unprepared for what I saw. I always assumed that squid just floated around a bit and dealt with what they were given. Nope. They dance around like a psychotic heavyweight boxer. A couple of them decided that one of the divers in the cage needed to die and they had to find a way to make it happen. They almost did too. The squids had pure death in their eyes as they tried to find a way to grab enough of the diver through the cage to kill him. It was one of the most intense things I have ever seen. Screw sharks. Those are mere child’s play. It is those squids that freak me out now. ---
**Author:** ![According\_to\_Pliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@According\_to\_Pliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/According_to_Pliny)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-a-little-underwhelmed-by-the-giant-squid/385661/15 "2006-12-28T00:50:03Z")
Hey Giant Squid: Not so big now that you’re on land, are you. They say all the big shall fall, but in the ocean all the big shall float. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-a-little-underwhelmed-by-the-giant-squid/385661/16 "2006-12-28T01:04:19Z")
Ancient maritime tradition dictates that if you mock the size of a man’s squid, then by Gadfrey you’d best be prepared to whip out a bigger squid. 24 feet long seems like plenty o’ squid to me. Any invertebrate that could reach clear across a two-lane highway to suck my face off automatically wins my respect. For pity’s sake, think of the poor squid researchers, laboring ceaselessly to achieve something never before accomplished-- tracking and capturing the legendary giant squid alive on film-- then returning triumphantly to shore only to have people remark tepidly: “Well… that’s _okay,_ I guess; but I heard these squid get a \*lot \* bigger than that. Couldn’t you guys have found an _even bigger squid_?” And then those researchers wept bitter tears of shame. Do you like making squid researchers cry? _DO YOU?!_ ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-a-little-underwhelmed-by-the-giant-squid/385661/17 "2006-12-28T01:07:26Z")
[QUOTE=Terrifel] And then those researchers wept bitter tears of shame. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Scubaqueen] we are talking about the japanese here. [/QUOTE] Just thought I’d lay those two responses next to each other. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-a-little-underwhelmed-by-the-giant-squid/385661/18 "2006-12-28T01:27:26Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] There are only two nature videos on this planet that have ever spooked me. One was a video of a capybara wandering into a piranha pond that was drying up and filled with starving piranhas. They immediately burrowed a hole in its side and ate it from the inside out in just a few minutes. The one that topped that however was a squid video like you described. [/QUOTE] Do you have links by any chance? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-a-little-underwhelmed-by-the-giant-squid/385661/19 "2006-12-28T01:39:52Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] The one that topped that however was a squid video like you described. Divers went down in a shark cage among some mid-sized squids (humbolts I believe). I had always heard that quid are intelligent but I was unprepared for what I saw. I always assumed that squid just floated around a bit and dealt with what they were given. Nope. They dance around like a psychotic heavyweight boxer. A couple of them decided that one of the divers in the cage needed to die and they had to find a way to make it happen. They almost did too. The squids had pure death in their eyes as they tried to find a way to grab enough of the diver through the cage to kill him. It was one of the most intense things I have ever seen. Screw sharks. Those are mere child’s play. It is those squids that freak me out now. [/QUOTE] Could it be [Dr. Clyde Roper vs. the Humboldt Squid](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_5Ecaki-o0)? ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-a-little-underwhelmed-by-the-giant-squid/385661/20 "2006-12-28T08:50:56Z")
[QUOTE=DigitalC] Anyone else a little…underwhelmed by the giant squid? [/QUOTE] You are SO going to be eaten last. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-a-little-underwhelmed-by-the-giant-squid/385661.md?page=2)