# Giant squids - are they real? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 7, 2003, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-squids-are-they-real/186788 "2003-07-07T15:49:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ZiggyB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b487fb/32.png) [@ZiggyB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZiggyB)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-squids-are-they-real/186788/1 "2003-07-07T15:49:56Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-squids-are-they-real/186788/2 "2003-07-07T15:54:34Z")
Yes. Very much so. go here– [http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/squid.html](http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/squid.html) ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-squids-are-they-real/186788/3 "2003-07-07T15:55:29Z")
Yep, they exist. I suppose you would like a cite… [http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/07/22/australia.squid/](http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/07/22/australia.squid/) there’s even a picture of the beastie. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-squids-are-they-real/186788/4 "2003-07-07T15:55:43Z")
and another link— [http://partners.si.edu/squid/ArchiteuthisFrame.html](http://partners.si.edu/squid/ArchiteuthisFrame.html) ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-squids-are-they-real/186788/5 "2003-07-07T16:18:06Z")
Here’s one that isn’t quite as big (up to 23 feet long), but scores a lot of points for funkiness. > **[MSNBC News - Breaking News and News Today | Latest News](https://www.msnbc.com/)** > > MSNBC breaking news and the latest news for today. Get daily news from local news reporters and world news updates with live audio & video from our team. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-squids-are-they-real/186788/6 "2003-07-07T16:35:58Z")
Here’s a link to a “Colossal” squid, in case “giant” wasn’t big enough for you: [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2910849.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2910849.stm) ---
**Author:** ![ZiggyB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b487fb/32.png) [@ZiggyB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZiggyB)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-squids-are-they-real/186788/7 "2003-07-08T02:15:23Z")
Thanks guys. That colossal squid is pretty cool. I knew I should have made a bet about it! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-squids-are-they-real/186788/8 "2003-07-08T02:27:59Z")
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… ---
**Author:** ![bbeaty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c0e974/32.png) [@bbeaty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbeaty)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-squids-are-they-real/186788/9 "2003-07-08T04:00:58Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-squids-are-they-real/186788/10 "2003-07-08T04:19:43Z")
Yes they are real. And they make good pets too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-squids-are-they-real/186788/11 "2003-07-08T11:48:47Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-squids-are-they-real/186788/12 "2003-07-08T14:33:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bbeaty \* > \*\* 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. > \*\* Say what? Scars I earned in childhood didn’t grow as I did. 'Course I never went one-on-one with a giant squid… ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-squids-are-they-real/186788/13 "2003-07-08T15:07:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DrFidelius \* > \*\*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. \*\* 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. ---
**Author:** ![dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorkusmalorkusmafia/32/7266_2.png) [@dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorkusmalorkusmafia)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-squids-are-they-real/186788/14 "2003-07-08T16:23:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Say what? Scars I earned in childhood didn’t grow as I did. 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. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-squids-are-they-real/186788/15 "2003-07-08T16:27:32Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![stigoftdump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@stigoftdump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stigoftdump)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2003, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-squids-are-they-real/186788/16 "2003-07-09T20:44:39Z")
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!) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-squids-are-they-real/186788/17 "2003-07-09T20:57:15Z")
So, does your scar hurt when Dick Cheney is around? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-squids-are-they-real/186788/18 "2003-07-09T21:18:38Z")
This may be relevant: [http://animal.discovery.com/news/afp/20030630/giantblob.html](http://animal.discovery.com/news/afp/20030630/giantblob.html) Although they aren’t exactly sure what it is yet.