Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: Lauren vog obamb here. About three hundred different species of
Speaker 1: squid have been swimming in the world's oceans for more
Speaker 1: than four hundred million years. There are three species that
Speaker 1: grow too massive proportions, the giant, the colossal, and the jumbo,
Speaker 1: also known as the Humboldt squid. While many squid are
Speaker 1: just a few inches long, giant and colossal squid are enormous.
Speaker 1: These two types are estimated to reach from thirty five
Speaker 1: to sixty ft in length that's about ten to eighteen
Speaker 1: meters including their body and tentacles. That's larger than a
Speaker 1: full length school bus, and they can weigh up to
Speaker 1: a thousand pounds or about four dred and fifty Their
Speaker 1: protruding eyes are the size of volleyballs. Humboldt squid are
Speaker 1: the smallest of the three, only about six feet that's
Speaker 1: two ms long and a hundred pounds or forty five ms.
Speaker 1: But how did these marine animals get so big? The
Speaker 1: most common explanation is a phenomenon called deep sea gig antism.
Speaker 1: The theory suggests that over time, small, shallow water creatures
Speaker 1: evolved to live at vast deep sea levels by getting bigger,
Speaker 1: likely due to a combination of food supply and the
Speaker 1: increased size of the predators at great depths. In shallow waters,
Speaker 1: it's advantageous to stay small because there's limited food. But
Speaker 1: at the extreme depths where massive squid are thought to
Speaker 1: live between about six hundred and fifty and two thousand,
Speaker 1: six hundred feet that's about two hundred to seven hundred
Speaker 1: meters below the surface, bigger creatures have size and endurance
Speaker 1: on their side when traveling longer distances in search of food.
Speaker 1: When you're a small fish in a large pond, you're
Speaker 1: a snack. But if you're the big fish, you have
Speaker 1: your choice of snacks. But is the whole ocean there buffet,
Speaker 1: including human, ships and submarines. Sea creatures feature prominently in
Speaker 1: seafairer tales around the world, dating back to ancient times.
Speaker 1: In Greek and Roman mythology, there's tales of great battles
Speaker 1: between man and marine monsters capable of pulling ships underwater.
Speaker 1: Twelfth century Norwegian sailors old stories of sea creatures they
Speaker 1: had seen. By the eighteenth century, the creatures of Norwegian
Speaker 1: legend had grown to the likes of islands with arms.
Speaker 1: It's thought that giant, colossal and Humboldt squid are aggressive,
Speaker 1: opportunistic creatures that prey on anything that comes their way,
Speaker 1: from easy meals of fish and shrimp to a more
Speaker 1: sporting hunt of other large cephalopods and whales. The Humboldts
Speaker 1: specifically are known to be fierce cannibalistic fighters. Mexican fishermen
Speaker 1: have nicknamed them dielblos rojos or red devils because of
Speaker 1: their body's red color and their hostile nature. And A
Speaker 1: squid of colossal dimensions featured in Jules Verns eighteen sixty
Speaker 1: nine novel twenty thousand Leagues under the Sea, said to
Speaker 1: be a fictionalized account of a real encounter between a
Speaker 1: French Navy ship and a giant squid. Whether the original
Speaker 1: account is entirely fictional or not, the novel peaked the
Speaker 1: public's interest in deep sea gigantism and marine attacks, and
Speaker 1: certainly isn't the only account of squid attacking ships. In
Speaker 1: the nineteen thirties, the Brunswick, the Royal Norwegian Navy's fifteen
Speaker 1: thousand ton tanker, was attacked three separate times by different
Speaker 1: giant squid. Each account tells of a squid pursuing the
Speaker 1: tanker and striking it. Suddenly, tentacles wrapped around the hull,
Speaker 1: fortunately for the sailors, yet unfortunately for the squid. The
Speaker 1: steel of the ship proved either too slick or too
Speaker 1: hard for the tentacles to grapple and pierce. Each squid
Speaker 1: that tried to land the Brunswick ended up perishing after
Speaker 1: sliding into the tanker's propellers. As recently as two thousand three,
Speaker 1: a giant squid attempted to take down a boat, this
Speaker 1: time a French yacht sailing ironically in the Jewels Verne Trophy,
Speaker 1: a prize for the fastest global circumnavigation by a yacht. Luckily,
Speaker 1: the twenty six ft long that's about eight meters squid
Speaker 1: gave up before its demise or that of the boat.
Speaker 1: Some scientists are skeptical that squid are dangerous to humans
Speaker 1: or watercraft, suggesting that there are species with a fish
Speaker 1: based diet and therefore have no need to attack humans
Speaker 1: or the steel of a ship. But whether they're actively
Speaker 1: pursuing our vessels or not, no gigantic squid has yet
Speaker 1: taken down a more earned ship, but it hasn't been
Speaker 1: for the lack of trying. Today's episode was written by
Speaker 1: Maria Trimarchie and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on
Speaker 1: this and lots of other huge topics, visit our home planet,
Speaker 1: how Stuff Works dot com.