Diver Yosuke Tanaka and his wife encountered a giant squid swimming near the surface in an area with abundant seaweed off the coast of western Japan.
The giant squid is estimated to be about 1 to 2 years old.
The footage recorded by Yosuke shows the giant squid swimming just beneath the surface, with its long tentacles spread out below. “I was both excited and scared because it had very thick arms. If I got caught, I wouldn’t be able to escape,” Yosuke shared. Tanaka and his wife run a diving service in Toyooka City, Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan. He mentioned that a nearby boat operator informed him about this rare squid.
Based on its size, Tsunemi Kubodera, a researcher at the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo, stated that the squid is likely around 1 to 2 years old. According to Tanaka, although it measures over 2.4 meters, this squid is relatively small for its species.
Jon Ablett, a mollusk manager at the Natural History Museum in London, noted that giant squids can reach lengths of nearly 12 meters. “Colossal squids (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) can achieve greater size in both mass and length compared to giant squids, although no fully mature specimens have been found yet,” Ablett said.
(Video: Yosuke Tanaka)
Despite their large bodies, giant squids are rarely encountered, making it difficult for researchers to estimate their population numbers. Based on the food in the stomachs of sperm whales, a study by scientists Clyde Rober and Elizabeth Shea estimated that 131 million giant squids are consumed by sperm whales each year. While they can be found in all the world’s oceans, this species is more common around New Zealand and Japan, the North Atlantic, and the waters around Africa.
