Giant Squid caught on Video?!

squidman001 · Post by **squidman001** » 2006-08-07 05:56pm

The only concievable way i could see a giant squid killing a sperm whale is if it latched onto its blowhole and managed to suffocate it.

Can whales breathe through thier mouths?

Maraxus · Post by **Maraxus** » 2006-08-07 11:02pm

Probably not. Sperm Whale nasal pasages are connected to their blowhole and a passage to the lungs. I've only read about these variety of whale blowing water and carbon dioxide out through their blowhole. Considering how large any whale's head is, let alone a sperm whale's, it might take more effort than worth it to lift out of the water to enable it to breathe properly.

slebetman · Post by **slebetman** » 2006-08-08 12:58am

Maraxus wrote:Considering how large any whale's head is, let alone a sperm whale's, it might take more effort than worth it to lift out of the water to enable it to breathe properly.

All known species of whales breach. Though considering the size of the whale's lungs I don't think a sperm whale would have enough time to take a full breath of air while breaching.

Superman · Post by **Superman** » 2006-08-08 04:51am

Sperm whales often hunt in pods. The squids are toast... errr, kalamari.

Sperm whales are pretty damn impressive. The damage we have done to their populations over time is sickening.

Superman · Post by **Superman** » 2006-08-08 04:59am

By the way, anyone else curious to know if there's a species of giant octopus?

squidman001 · Post by **squidman001** » 2006-08-08 09:28am

there is.
Giant Octopus
A video of one eating a shark is in there too.

Superman · Post by **Superman** » 2006-08-08 12:01pm

squidman001 wrote:there is.
Giant Octopus
A video of one eating a shark is in there too.

Holy freggin crap that was cool! Thanks for that link.

Superman · Post by **Superman** » 2006-08-08 12:03pm

I wonder why it sees a 4 foot long shark as a food source, but not the divers. That's really only a difference of 2 feet or so in terms of size...

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2006-08-08 01:13pm

Superman wrote:I wonder why it sees a 4 foot long shark as a food source, but not the divers. That's really only a difference of 2 feet or so in terms of size...

THe Divers don't look like anything it regularly eats, plus with all of the equipment on a diver looks much bigger, height isn't everything. Giant Octopus can get anywhere between 15-10 feet in diamater (assuming its splayed out with all of its tentacles pointing outwards, but they don't have the same kind of size as the giant/colossal squids.

Cute bastards though, smart too.

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2006-08-08 01:15pm

Ghetto Edit:

I wonder if the Giant Squid has nuerotoxins as potent as its smaller cousins. If it did then it might be able to fuck up a whale pretty good, plus the claws and beak on them things are sharp. Not that it works all that often but its possible.

Post by **Edi** » 2006-08-08 03:31pm

Darth Fanboy wrote:Ghetto Edit:

I wonder if the Giant Squid has nuerotoxins as potent as its smaller cousins. If it did then it might be able to fuck up a whale pretty good, plus the claws and beak on them things are sharp. Not that it works all that often but its possible.

Something that big tends to not need the poison, so they most likely don't have it. Maintaining the poison system would require resources, so it would be selected out sooner or later. The smaller squids and octopi are a different matter, since there are a lot more things that eat them so they need the toxins to defend against a wider and more numerous selection of predators.

Edi

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2006-08-08 03:37pm

Superman wrote:Sperm whales often hunt in pods. The squids are toast... errr, kalamari.

Sperm whales are pretty damn impressive. The damage we have done to their populations over time is sickening.

Sperm whales are my absolute favorite animal, jokes about my sexuality and their name notwithstanding.

And, their numbers are recovering to an extent.

Toughest, most badassed mammals ever.

squidman001 · Post by **squidman001** » 2006-08-08 10:28pm

I've seen a video where a person working at an aquarium with the giant octopus and it shows him feeding it shrimp and other items. Do you think that the octopus is on a high enough level to know that the divers and such are providers of food so aren't food while the shark is open season?

Superman · Post by **Superman** » 2006-08-08 11:32pm

squidman001 wrote:I've seen a video where a person working at an aquarium with the giant octopus and it shows him feeding it shrimp and other items. Do you think that the octopus is on a high enough level to know that the divers and such are providers of food so aren't food while the shark is open season?

Octopus maybe... I've heard a marine biologist say that they're roughly on the level of a cat or dog in terms of intelligence. That would still basically only apply to captive octopi though and not the wild variety.

Zed Snardbody · Post by **Zed Snardbody** » 2006-08-09 05:50am

Aren't octopi the only invertibrates that scientists are required to anstitize before they cut into them?