Attention all beach bums: time to grab your floaties and pack up the coolers.
According to a recent study conducted by Charles Paxton, a statistical ecologist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, a giant squid at least 66 feet long may be living in the open ocean. At 66 feet long, this squid would be longer than the average school bus, which is 45 feet long.
The maximum length for giant squids is 43 feet for females and 33 feet for males.
Throughout his study, Paxton looked at different data about the illusive marine animals that has been collected over the past century. While studying the giant squid, Paxton established how the length of a squid is connected to the size of the mantle. The mantle is the main body of the squid, which covers the squid’s internal organs.
One piece of evidence that Paxton focused on was the remains of a giant squid that washed up on a New Zealand beach in 1879. This squid’s mantle, which is one of the largest ever recorded, was 9 feet long.
By comparing and contrasting the different squid and mantle lengths, Paxton determined that there is a 99.9 percent chance that a squid with a mantle this large (9 feet), would be between 19 to 90 feet long.
In a recently published National Geographic article, Paxton mentions that his maximum estimate “may be pushing things a little too far,” but the overall estimate leaves room for a squid of 66 feet.
The only evidence needed to prove Paxton’s measurements, would be a 66-foot long giant squid.
However, some experts believe this evidence does not exist.
Steve O’Shea, an expert on giant squids, said that if a giant squid this large is out there, then their beak would have been found, either in the stomach of a predator, or somewhere in the seabed. Unfortunately for Paxton’s measurements, no beaks this large have been found.
“Large beaks belonging to large Architeuthis (giant squid) do not exist because the squid do not exist,” O’Shea said.
Scientists with viewpoints similar to O’Shea have also discussed other faulty details within Paxton’s data. First hand encounters and research on giant squids are rare and any measurements that Paxton may have used could have been taken after the remains of squids were stretched or shrunk.
Despite some of the naysayers of Paxton’s research, any possible information on the reclusive giant squid is one more step in discovering more about the mystifying sea creature.
The giant squid is one of the most mysterious creatures in the ocean and researchers and scientists know very little about the animal.
The giant squid is also sometimes confused with the colossal squid, which is the bigger squid of the two. Colossal squids can measure up to 39 feet to 46 feet. Some differences between the colossal squid and the giant squid are the longer mantle and the sharp hooks on the tentacles found on the colossal squid.
One hypothesis for the large size of the giant squid, is that their size allows for a lack of predators in their deep sea habitat. However, the giant squid and the colossal squid find themselves fighting off sperm whales. Evidence of these battles can be seen in the scars found on different sperm whales from the suckers and hooks on the tentacles of both the colossal and giant squids.
With so much information about giant squids and other deep sea creatures still unknown, the ocean continues to be a mysterious place.
