I hear different stories from my friends (some of which are biology students!) about giant squids that are supposed to be as big as a whale. Do they exist or not?
Yep, they exist.
I suppose you would like a cite…
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/07/22/australia.squid/
there’s even a picture of the beastie.
and another link—
Here’s one that isn’t quite as big (up to 23 feet long), but scores a lot of points for funkiness.
Here’s a link to a “Colossal” squid, in case “giant” wasn’t big enough for you:
Thanks guys. That colossal squid is pretty cool. I knew I should have made a bet about it!
Giant squid was up on shore from time to time. But keep in mind, that the “big as a whale” counts the length of the tenticles, not just the main body. Still, I wouldn’t want to meet up with on in a dark ocean alley…
Searching on “Architeuthis dux” tends to turn up more professional hits.
One interesting fact: early in the squid history the researchers thought that Giant Squids might grow to hundreds of feet, with suckers the size of small dinner plates. Turned out that small young sperm whales with small sucker-scars would grow up to become large sperm whales… still with the same scars, but the old scars grew as the whales grew.
Also: Giant squid is a major component of sperm whale diet. One book speculates that the large oil-filled “brow” of sperm whales is a lens for sound, and that the whales are able to catch squids because they stun them with an acoustic beam in the same way that dolphins are known to stun fish.
Yes they are real. And they make good pets too. 
Helpful Homemaker tip:
Don’t make calamari from giant squids. The dear beasties use ammonia in their tissue to control bouyancy, making them inedible to humans.
Say what? Scars I earned in childhood didn’t grow as I did.
'Course I never went one-on-one with a giant squid…
Not inedible, just nasty: I seem to remember, either in a DiscChannel type show, or in Richard Ellis’s The Search for the Giant Squid (which, yes, I read; in galleys even) a scientist cooking and eating a bit of a laboratory specimen. Said it was nasty.
It depends on where they are. I have a scar from when I was an infant that supposedly was about 1/2 an inch across. It is now about 5 inches long. It really depends on where the scars are whether or not they will grow. I have some other ones that didn’t grow with me.
Interesting.
My forehead scar from four stayed the same; ones on my arm from a bike wreck at 13 went away; so I guess they ‘grew’ in that they changed.
Where is yours?
I got a forehead scar when I was a baby; I’ve been told it was when I got in a fight with an evil wizard.
The scar seems to be staying the same size, mind.
Incidentally, anyone know what happened to that big lump they found on the Chilean coast? They reckoned it was a ginat octopus at the time, but I’ve heard nothing since. Anyone point me in the right direction? (sorry 'bout the steal - it is related!)
So, does your scar hurt when Dick Cheney is around?
This may be relevant:
http://animal.discovery.com/news/afp/20030630/giantblob.html
Although they aren’t exactly sure what it is yet.