Late last month, people around Japan's Toyama Bay were gifted with the rare sight of a giant squid. Japan is no stranger to large and magnificent giant squids because in 2005 the first photos of a giant squid were taken off the coast of Ogasawara Islands. In 2012 the first video of a living adult was taken in the same area as well. It seems that maybe something in the water around the coast of Japan either breed large marine animals or simply attracts them to the shores.

Leading The Giant Squid

A diver that was present when the giant squid appeared had no qualms about following his curiosity. He dove into the water to examine the giant beast up close. As far as he could tell the giant squid was healthy and lively and even tried to grasp him with its tentacles and squirted ink at him. The diver feared that the beast may have gotten stuck in the bay so he took the time to help guide the giant squid back out to the open ocean. He lead it a few hundred meters from where he found it and watched it disappear into the deeper part of the sea and to safety.

The Giant Squid Caught Of Video

To our standard the giant squid that was caught on tape seems quite massive, however it is believed to still be a very young squid. As of right now researchers have no clear evidence as to how large giant squids actually get. They use to believe that they could grow over sixty feet long, however they believe that estimate is vastly larger than the truth. However, because the only specimens that they have been able to study of Architeuthis dux are deceased it is hard to actually come to a solid size estimate to go by. Researchers say that as their remains floated along their tissues may have stretched as they were deteriorating in the ocean water. They can say that as of right now that the Architeuthis dux is the only known species of giant squid that they have recorded. Regardless, reaching forty feet or a little longer is still quite a large giant squid. Even the giant squid that was only around twelve feet in the video is a pretty good size in comparison to humans. While the Architeuthis dux is the longest squid species currently recorded the Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni or colossal squid has the largest body mass recorded. Scientists have found and studied a colossal squid in 2014 that weighed in at seven hundred and seventy pounds. 

Regardless, of which large squid species they may be talking about they still admit that with a vast amount of ocean still unexplored there may be other larger squid species roaming the ocean depths. However, it can be said that the giant squid and the colossal squid are some pretty formidable beasts if you were found face to face with one in the dark ocean water.