Giant squid filmed in deep sea habitat for the first time. UPDATED with new footage

Giant squids have been washing up on shores for centuries, not too long ago there was some footage of one of the beasts attacking a lure and another of a live one on the surface. But this is different, never have any of these creatures been filmed in their native habitat.


stuff.co.nz reports:


 "A colossal breakthrough has been made in the research of giant squid with a Japanese film crew capturing the first video of the elusive creature deep in the Pacific Ocean.

The footage, which will be aired on Discovery Channel later this month, has excited scientists around the world as it is the first time a giant squid has been filmed alive.

Japan's National Science Museum succeeded in filming the creature at a depth of about 630 metres in the Pacific Ocean and followed it in a submarine to a depth of about 900m.

The squid came in about three metres long - nearly half a metre longer than the colossal squid (an immature female) on display in Wellington's Te Papa. The colossal squid is slightly shorter than the giant squid but has a larger, heavier body.

According to the Discovery Channel, the three-man crew carried out about 100 missions and spent close to 400 hours in the tiny submarine to track the squid from a spot about 15 kilometres east of Chichi Island in the north Pacific Ocean."

more here

UPDATED: New footage has been released: