Deep sea explorers capture rare footage of a 12-foot giant squid

As far as ‘mythical’ beasts go, the bloody kraken is one that’s definitely held our attention for a long time. For bloody centuries, we’ve known they’re down there in the deepest, darkest depths of the ocean, but until recently, we haven’t been able to catch them on camera. Now, though, some stellar work from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has enabled them to film one for only the second time in history.

Credit: Ocean Explorer Gov

The research team from the NOAA set up shop about a hundred miles off the coast of New Orleans. That’s about a hundred and sixty kilometres if ya speak bloody Ozzy. The mission was called Journey into Midnight, and it was made possible thanks to an underwater camera system known as the medusa.

There’s a video of the footage down below, and trust us, this is something you’ll wanna check out. Duke University Professor Sonke Johnsen and Ocean Research & Conservation Association CEO Edie Widder blogged that, “We knew immediately that it was a squid. It was also big, but because it was coming straight at the camera, it was impossible to tell exactly how big. But big – at least 3 to 3.7 meters (10 to 12 feet) long.”

Credit: Ocean Explorer Gov

Anyway, as it moves into the frame, it’s hard not to be a bit awed by this thing. It moves like something from another world. It’s like a bloody alien or something. Have a squiz at the way it changes its shape and has a go at the camera before buggering off.

Credit: Ocean Explorer Gov

“We did not find a monster. The giant squid is large and certainly unusual from our human perspective, but if the video shows anything of the animal’s character, it shows an animal surprised by its mistake, backing off after striking at something that at first must have seemed appealing but was obviously not food,’ Widder and Johnsen said.

Credit: Ocean Explorer Gov

Final thought: It’s pretty bloody rad that scientists have now caught a second one of these on camera. The fact we’re pushing further into the oceans for research is bloody awesome indeed. We’re obviously gonna find tonnes more cool stuff beneath the surface, so we’re taking bets. Let us know in the Facebook comments what else you think they’ll find down there with their fancy-pants camera.

Just in case you missed it, here’s one of Ozzy’s latest commentary videos…Ozzy Man Reviews: Gym Fails

Video Link: GOATWoW

H/T: METRO.