Giant,
menacing monsters of the sea have been written about for centuries. Sailors
have told incredible stories of being attacked by monsters with enormous
flailing tentacles and huge, black, menacing eyes that hypnotized men! In the
classic "20,000 leagues under the sea," the underwater ship the Nautilus
was attacked by a giant monster.
These
stories probably originated from sightings of the largest marine invertebrate -
the giant squid. Invertebrate are animals which lack a spine. Giant squid are
among the fastest animals in the ocean. These huge creatures have the ability
to propel themselves up to 20 miles per hour through the water and even launch
themselves out of the water. This unnerving appearance of a sea monster which
could also fly must have terrified sailors on whaling ships.
These
enormous animals live in the deepest oceans, rarely surfacing and staying
hidden from humans. The giant squid is a voracious eater, devouring up to 500
pounds of fish, crab, shark or any other ocean animal per day. It grabs its
prey with its long tentacles and tears it apart with a giant parrot-like beak,
Until the 1880's, the giant
squid was still thought to be legend. But in 1888 a giant 57 foot squid was
found washed up on the shores of a beach in New Zealand. The creature had
tentacles 35 feet long and eyes larger than a dinner plate! The creature was
dead however and to this day we have not seen a giant squid alive.
One of
the first discoveries of giant squid was found inside the stomachs of whales.
There were only parts of the animals, such as the beak, and so the mystery
grew, what was this strange animal, with parts similar to regular squid, but
much much larger!
Then in the 1970's a Russian
trawler off the coast of Antarctica caught a large squid with a length of 13
feet! Speculations soon arose if there might not be even larger squid out
there! Rumors and non-confirmed stories told of giant squid 40 feet long. And
so, the squid squad was formed!
What we
know of this creature has been learned from dead squid -- whole and parts found
in fisherman's nets or washed ashore. A giant squid may weigh over a ton and
may stretch 20 meters (over 60 feet). About half of the giant squid's length is
composed of two long tentacles -- and eight shorter arms that are covered with
suckers. Scientists guess that giant squid are probably very intelligent, since
their close cousins, the octopus, are the most intelligent invertebrates known.
A large part of the squid's brain is dedicated to its enormous eyes -- each of
which is about the size of a human head!
The squid
doesn't have bones, but does have a feather-shaped internal support and its
brain is encased in cartilage-like structure similar to a skull. The giant
squid has the largest eyes of all animals. The squid moves tail first, by jet
propulsion. It sucks in water then squirts it out through a funnel-like cavity
in its body. When it attacks, it bends its body like a fire hose, and shoots
its tentacles forward. But there is still much not known about these animals.
In 1997
the National Museum of Natural History along with the National Marine Fisheries
Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration decided to solve
the mystery and try to answer the questions about this mysterious animal. This
was quite a challenge because no-one had actually seen a giant squid alive.
They were not sure where to even look for the animal but they are searching the
deepest parts of the world's oceans for this elusive animal. Their efforts
include using submersibles to search the deep areas. Perhaps soon we will learn
more about this creature of legend.
Comprehension questions
1. What
was meant by a giant monster?
2. Describe
the general physical characteristics of the object!
3. How
does it move? Describe it.
4. How
does it eat?
5. When
was the legend proven?
Vocabulary questions:
1. What
is the meaning of “menacing”?
2. What
is the meaning of “elusive”?
3. What
is the meaning of “submersible”?
