WEBVTT - How Can We Film Giant Squid?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren bog Obam here. The giant squid is a carnivorous

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<v Speaker 1>invertebrate that weighs over four hundred and forty pounds or

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<v Speaker 1>two and measures around thirty three ft or ten meters long. Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>it can be as long as a school bus and

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<v Speaker 1>has eyes the size of dinner plates, along with a

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<v Speaker 1>sharp beak. In short, it's a little disconcerting. Perhaps more

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<v Speaker 1>disconcerting is the fact that these wild creatures, which have

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<v Speaker 1>rarely ever been spotted alive, have been popping up in

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<v Speaker 1>videos in recent years, very much alive and very very large.

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<v Speaker 1>Before two thousand four, they had only been found as carcasses,

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<v Speaker 1>washed up on beaches or captured by fishermen. So what's

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<v Speaker 1>going on under the sea is a rash of giant

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<v Speaker 1>squid sightings and indication that these sea giants are taking

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<v Speaker 1>over the waves. In a word, no, but the sightings

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<v Speaker 1>do indicate technology is advancing in exciting new ways. We

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<v Speaker 1>spoke Edith Whittard, PhD uh, the CEO and Senior scientist

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<v Speaker 1>of Florida's Ocean Research and Conservation Association, Incorporated. She said

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<v Speaker 1>it hasn't really been a rash of giant squid sightings.

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<v Speaker 1>There have only been two times that giant squid have

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<v Speaker 1>been filmed in the deep sea. Both times the animals

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<v Speaker 1>were spotted with help from a camera system and an

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<v Speaker 1>optical lure that wid are developed to help researchers explore

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<v Speaker 1>the creatures of the deep sea without scaring them away.

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<v Speaker 1>The camera system is called Medusa. Medusa is unlike any

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<v Speaker 1>recording device used before because it emits a red light

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<v Speaker 1>that's invisible to most creatures living in the midnight zone.

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<v Speaker 1>That's the expanse of pitch black water about three thousand,

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<v Speaker 1>three hundred feet or a thousand meters below the ocean surface.

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<v Speaker 1>Then there's the optical lure and electronic jellyfish that accompanies

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<v Speaker 1>Medusa down below the waves to help draw creatures towards

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<v Speaker 1>the camera with an innovative method that takes inspiration from

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<v Speaker 1>animals natural cues called an e jelly wid are explained.

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<v Speaker 1>The e jelly image hates the bioluminescent burglar alarm display

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<v Speaker 1>of a common deep sea jellyfish. Bioluminescent burglar alarms are

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<v Speaker 1>like a scream for help using light. Their last ditch

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<v Speaker 1>effort of prey that are caught in the clutches of

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<v Speaker 1>a predator to attract the attention of a bigger predator

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<v Speaker 1>that may attack their attacker and thereby afford them an

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<v Speaker 1>opportunity for escape. Until just fifteen years ago, the only

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<v Speaker 1>facts known about giants squid were gathered from their massive

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<v Speaker 1>dead bodies, since live ones had never been seen. Then,

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<v Speaker 1>in two thousand four, the first live images of a

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<v Speaker 1>giant squid were captured, and the first video of a

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<v Speaker 1>giant squid emerged thanks to Medusa capturing a specimen swimming

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<v Speaker 1>off of Japan's Okasawara Archipelago. It wasn't until June of

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<v Speaker 1>twenty nineteen that another Medusa shot giant squid video came

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<v Speaker 1>to light, this time of a roughly ten foot long

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<v Speaker 1>that's three meters young swimmer in US waters around the

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<v Speaker 1>e Gulf of Mexico. June twenty nineteen marked the fifth

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<v Speaker 1>deployment of Medusa on this particular expedition, and when Winter

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<v Speaker 1>and her team examined the video, they saw undeniable footage

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<v Speaker 1>of a long, tentacled creature reaching out for the e jelly.

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<v Speaker 1>It's hard to tell exactly how big it was because

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<v Speaker 1>it was heading straight towards the camera. All these years

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<v Speaker 1>of underwater chasing begs the question why are these animals

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<v Speaker 1>so camera shy in the first place? Witter said, the

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<v Speaker 1>giant squid has been elusive because our standard methods of exploration,

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<v Speaker 1>using platforms with bright lights and noisy thrusters, has been

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<v Speaker 1>scaring it away. The only reason we even knew giant

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<v Speaker 1>squid existed is because they happen to float when they die.

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<v Speaker 1>So dead and dying specimens have been seen in photographed

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<v Speaker 1>at the surface. How many other animals are there living

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<v Speaker 1>in the deep sea that we don't know about because

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<v Speaker 1>we've been scaring them away and they don't happen to

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<v Speaker 1>float when they die, A good and perhaps even more

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<v Speaker 1>disconcerting question. Indeed. Today's episode was written by Michelle Constantonowsky

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<v Speaker 1>and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a production

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<v Speaker 1>of I Heeart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more in

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<v Speaker 1>this and lots of other mysterious topics, visit our home

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