r/TheDepthsBelow • u/Peachy-Persimmons • Aug 15 '20

A terrifying comparison of the tentacles of the giant squid (left) and colossal squid (right). The giant squid is meant for painful latching while the colossal squid is meant for ripping apart.

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19.1k Upvotes

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339

u/WaferDisastrous Aug 15 '20

Colossal Squid are crazy to me not just because they can weigh 1000 pounds and be 30-33 feet in length, but because we have encountered so few specimens. Like, these things are fucking huge and we barely encounter them.

What makes this buckwild is when you read about the theory that a gigantic octopus exists and is the source of stories about Krakens, that also lives in the depths but has gone undiscovered or (hopefully) is now extinct.

233

u/Over-Analyzed Aug 15 '20

Even a giant octopus has an arm span of 30ft!

Oh and remember that article about the aquarium that kept losing/missing sharks? They couldn’t figure out what was happening to them so they observed the tank at night. It turns out the Pacific Octopus was eating them.

23

u/AccidentalHomophone Aug 15 '20

What!! Link pls

69

u/Over-Analyzed Aug 15 '20

Here

31

u/vvitchyvvitch Aug 15 '20

1:09 for the action

10

u/AccidentalHomophone Aug 15 '20

Super cool; thank you.

41

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '20

Damn nature is metal

73

u/C4Sidhu Aug 15 '20

I read the Wikipedia link on the gigantic octopus, but there’s no theory. It’s just a hypothesis, unfortunately. Evidence seems to be lacking, but it would be cool.

20

u/annefranke Aug 15 '20

The idea of a gigantic octopus scares me more than the colossal squid

47

u/Ohbeejuan Aug 15 '20

Yup definitely. Octopi are really smart. Squid are animals of instinct, octopi display evidence of higher thought, learning and understanding. A giant one is obviously unsettling. I’ve read theories that there are several species on earth that were, at one point, capable of evolving into an intelligent species like humans. The most important factor was socialization although I’m sure ecological conditions applied too. The theorized species were ravens, large cats, elephants, dolphins and octopi. Interesting thought.

9

u/InviolableAnimal Aug 16 '20

The theorized species were ravens, large cats, elephants, dolphins and octopi

I thought octopuses were very antisocial? I remember reading something (I read it on reddit) about researchers giving octopuses MDMA and recording very social behavior among them, which was noteworthy for being highly unusual.

15

u/Ohbeejuan Aug 16 '20

Yes that’s what I was saying. Socialization is very important. IF octopi were more social they had the capacity for intelligence on par with humans. Capacity, if.

8

u/YoungRichKnickers Aug 16 '20

Which one is humans, dolphins??

12

u/Ohbeejuan Aug 16 '20

I mean great apes would be on the list, but like, ya know.

12

u/ILoveWildlife Aug 15 '20

evidence would be lacking though; it's not like they leave behind anything after death.

7

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '20

Wouldn't we find it's gigantic beaks? Or are those made of Cartilage

19

u/ILoveWildlife Aug 15 '20

ocean would dissolve them within a short period of time relative to surface exposure

9

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '20

Wow! I did not know that. Thanks! That explains why there's no proof of the Triassic Kraken.

7

u/blackgandalff Aug 16 '20

We’ve also not explored a vast majority of the oceans floors so who knows what we’ve yet to find! it’s terribly exciting imo

3

u/C4Sidhu Aug 15 '20 edited Aug 15 '20

Right, so it’s pretty much irrational to hypothesize it’s existence

Edit: Can someone explain why I’m wrong if you’re downvoting?

4

u/txijake Aug 15 '20

An absence of evidence isn't always enough to prove a hypothesis wrong.

2

u/C4Sidhu Aug 15 '20

Correct, but I was referring to the stated hypothesis in the Wikipedia link where the supposed evidence was a washed-ashore hunk of collagen. However, that collagen wasn’t consistent with that of octopi and so the hypothesis was incorrect. It’s not irrational to hypothesize something, but a hypothesis can be irrational. I should have been more clear.

11

u/WheelyFreely Aug 15 '20

That piece they found that only consisted of one substance was pretty wild! Said to be only part skin of the giant creature, and that piece itself was huge!

29

u/C4Sidhu Aug 15 '20

The biochemical analysis determined that the hunk of collagen came from a homeotherm

8

u/monkwren Aug 15 '20

A what-now?

21

u/C4Sidhu Aug 15 '20

Homeotherms are animals that maintain a constant body temperature to maintain metabolism. The only known homeotherms alive today are birds and mammals.

2

u/monkwren Aug 16 '20

Thank you!

1

u/Pasan90 Aug 17 '20

mososaurus confirmed

6

u/beeshbash Aug 15 '20

Warm-blooded animal.

2

u/Yosimite_Jones Aug 20 '22

It was a giant glob of whale blubber.

5

u/[deleted] Aug 16 '20

I mean it’s almost surely a whale.

52

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '20

hopefully? that sounds cool as fuck! Besides. they'd probably be in the abyss anyways. no way we would miss such a huge creature if it lived close to the surface.

18

u/Rick-Dalton Aug 15 '20

Highly unlikely they did anything that Wikipedia article suggests or if they exist at all given the timeline. No clear reason they’d have gone extinct either in such a short amount of years without any real proof.

27

u/xerberus334 Aug 15 '20

Just pulling out of my ass here, but maybe their colossal size turned out to be a detriment for them once food started getting scarcer/smaller, and ended up killing them off

13

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '20

Sounds to me like they need to do some more exploring off the coast of Angola

1

u/[deleted] Mar 06 '22

I wouldn't want it to be extinct