Bioluminescent killer squid caught on video!
So, a bunch of Japanese scientists finally managed to capture the dread Dana Octopus Squid on camera -- and it turns out the beast is lit up like Times Square! It's got rows and rows of bioluminescent photophores along its arms, which the scientists suspect the squid flashes to stun its prey. Quoth one of the researchers:
Dr. Tsunemi Kubodera from the National Science Museum in Tokyo, who led the research, told the BBC News website: "No-one had ever seen such bioluminescence behaviour during hunting of deep-sea large squid."
Indeed, nobody had ever seen one of these massive, seven-foot long, 134-pound creatures in action. That's why squidologists had long assumed that the Taningia danae moved and hunted in a sluggish fashion.
Nuh-uh. Check out the video of the squid as it hunts the scientists' bait. That thing swims eight feet per second and handles like a Porsche. Indeed, the bioluminscent flashes aren't even the scariest thing. It's the squid's body language that made me jump out of my skin. It's way, way more unsettling than any shark you've ever seen. Sure, sharks have teeth -- but these things have enough appendages to rip you limb from limb while simultaneously, y'know, solving a Rubik's Cube. We are so totally not ready.
The more I learn about the greater squid, the more I wonder whether possessing a skeleton is as much of an evolutionary advantage as we suspect. You watch one of these guys cruising around the ocean and they're totally like, "Vertebrae? Vertebrae are for pussies."
(Thanks to Steve Emrich and Jeffery David Anderson for this one!)
Posted by Clive Thompson at February 13, 2007 09:23 PM
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Damn, Clive … I need to pay more attention to the news. You’re feeding Squidblog with info, rather than the other way around!
(Thanks!)
Posted by: Tony at February 14, 2007 5:01 AM
Scary...!
If it's really bioluminescent I wonder about the last frames (from 00:07.30) where you see the squid passing close to the camera and out of the light: the tentacles are dark, like if they only reflected the glow from the spotlight.
Posted by: gemp at February 14, 2007 5:57 AM
That squid is awesome and so fast. Weird, but it reminded me of the last pirates of the caribbean movie.
Posted by: Gamble in America at February 14, 2007 11:00 AM
Tony, I exist to serve.
gemp, I think that effect is caused by the fact that the bioluminescence, while bright, is much dimmer than the camera light -- so when the bioluminescent tentacles are right in front of the camera, the camera lights up the surface of the tentacles, and they appear to go "dark".
Gamble, I haven't seen that movie yet, but indeed it appears to be a virtual orgy of squid imagery.
Posted by: Clive at February 14, 2007 12:01 PM
I wish they would try it with a sensitive camera, a bioluminescent bait and no light source...
Tho one could wonder what would be the use of reflecting tentacles in an environment without light. But Nature has strange ways sometimes.
I have to watch The Abyss again...
Posted by: gemp at February 14, 2007 1:02 PM
Clive, you are a great writer, and I wish you wouldn't use "pussy" as a derogatory term. I know you are speaking in the squid's voice there, but it is offensive.
Posted by: Arrowyn at February 16, 2007 10:39 AM
Arrowyn, my apologies -- I certainly didn't mean it offensively! On the contrary, I was intending it arch-ironically ... and assuming/hoping that it's pretty easy to disambiguate my intent, given the rest of how I write and think. But thanks for the feedback -- it's always good to know how things come across to readers -- and thanks for your kind words about my writing!
Posted by: Clive at February 16, 2007 2:50 PM
That is the most gorgeous squid I have ever seen. Admittedly I see most squid on the end of my chopsticks, when they're not at their best, but still.
Beautiful!
Posted by: BadAunt at February 24, 2007 11:44 AM
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Damn, Clive … I need to pay more attention to the news. You’re feeding Squidblog with info, rather than the other way around!
(Thanks!)
Posted by: Tony![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.collisiondetection.net/nav-commenters.gif)
at February 14, 2007 5:01 AM
Scary...!
If it's really bioluminescent I wonder about the last frames (from 00:07.30) where you see the squid passing close to the camera and out of the light: the tentacles are dark, like if they only reflected the glow from the spotlight.
Posted by: gemp![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.collisiondetection.net/nav-commenters.gif)
at February 14, 2007 5:57 AM
That squid is awesome and so fast. Weird, but it reminded me of the last pirates of the caribbean movie.
Posted by: Gamble in America![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.collisiondetection.net/nav-commenters.gif)
at February 14, 2007 11:00 AM
Tony, I exist to serve.
gemp, I think that effect is caused by the fact that the bioluminescence, while bright, is much dimmer than the camera light -- so when the bioluminescent tentacles are right in front of the camera, the camera lights up the surface of the tentacles, and they appear to go "dark".
Gamble, I haven't seen that movie yet, but indeed it appears to be a virtual orgy of squid imagery.
Posted by: Clive![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.collisiondetection.net/nav-commenters.gif)
at February 14, 2007 12:01 PM
I wish they would try it with a sensitive camera, a bioluminescent bait and no light source...
Tho one could wonder what would be the use of reflecting tentacles in an environment without light. But Nature has strange ways sometimes.
I have to watch The Abyss again...
Posted by: gemp![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.collisiondetection.net/nav-commenters.gif)
at February 14, 2007 1:02 PM
Clive, you are a great writer, and I wish you wouldn't use "pussy" as a derogatory term. I know you are speaking in the squid's voice there, but it is offensive.
Posted by: Arrowyn![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.collisiondetection.net/nav-commenters.gif)
at February 16, 2007 10:39 AM
Arrowyn, my apologies -- I certainly didn't mean it offensively! On the contrary, I was intending it arch-ironically ... and assuming/hoping that it's pretty easy to disambiguate my intent, given the rest of how I write and think. But thanks for the feedback -- it's always good to know how things come across to readers -- and thanks for your kind words about my writing!
Posted by: Clive![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.collisiondetection.net/nav-commenters.gif)
at February 16, 2007 2:50 PM
That is the most gorgeous squid I have ever seen. Admittedly I see most squid on the end of my chopsticks, when they're not at their best, but still.
Beautiful!
Posted by: BadAunt![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.collisiondetection.net/nav-commenters.gif)
at February 24, 2007 11:44 AM