JAPAN: Japanese scientists have taken the first photographs of one of the most mysterious creatures in the deep ocean - the giant squid.
Until now the only information about the behaviour of the creatures, which measure up to 18 metres (59 feet) in length, has been based on dead or dying squid washed up on shore or captured in commercial fishing nets.
But Tsunemi Kubodera, of the National Science Museum, and Kyoichi Mori, of the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association, have captured the first images of Architeuthis attacking bait 900 metres below the surface.
"We show the first wild images of a giant squid in its natural environment," they said in a report today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society. - (Reuters)