Ah well.
I still believe that it is only a matter of time until the existence of a species of giant octopus is proven.
I have books from my childhood that explain the Kraken to be pure myth. They say that no squid could possibly grow so large, and that no squid would ever attack a ship.
The size of archeteuthis and mesonyteuthis are scientific fact. At least one case of an attack on a ship is a matter of official US government record.
So, why not a giant octopus?
Is there any scientific reason that squid could grow so huge but octopods could not?
I disagree, to some extent. The means by which a whale can turn into an undifferentiated mass of goo is quite fascinating.
For anyone not following the story, it happens like this: Whale dies. It floats around for a while, decomposing. The flesh rots and becomes soft. Eventually, the skeleton falls out of the body, because the bones are too heavy and the flesh too gooey to support them. The bones sink to the bottom and disappear, and the boneless bag of blubbery yecch floats away and eventually washes up on a beach.
One of the articles quoted a cetacean scientist as saying this happens fairly regularly, and that he’s gotten a number of calls over the years to investigate similar mystery globs.
Not as interesting as a giant octopus, perhaps, but still quite interesting nonetheless.
I’s a sperm whale.
Yup.
Just a giant, oozing glob of sperm.