Fresh on the heels of a fall that is simply chock-a-block with giant-squid news, comes the BBC’s report on the capture of a “colossal squid” — a creature that is so bloody huge that scientists have no idea how big it grows. The chart overhead from the BBC shows the comparative size of a sperm whale, a giant squid, and a Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, the official name of the colossal squid. Oh, yeah, and the BBC put a double-decker bus in there just to show how totally screwed you’d be if you met one of these babies in a dark alley.

The colossal squid not only has the biggest beak of any cephalapod, but has “unique swivelling hooks on the clubs at the end of its tentacles,” which is, ah, bad. Indeed, so krakenesque is this thing that the scientists sound like extras in a monster-horror movie:

“When this animal was alive, it really has to be one of the most frightening predators out there. It’s without parallel in the oceans,” said Dr O’Shea, whose work is sponsored by Discovery Channel.

(Thanks to Tony for this one!)