Giant Squid Surfaces From The Deep In Japanese Harbor

Japan, known for its famous fictional monsters, was paid a visit on Christmas Eve by a real-life sea monster. In Toyama Bay in Central Japan, visitors idling on a pier overlooking the water were greeted by a 12-foot-long red-and-white giant squid. Despite its massive size, this squid was believed to be a juvenile. Dead specimens have been measured as long as 43 feet.

Architeuthis dux, otherwise known as the giant squid spends its life in the abyssal depths of the open ocean. These gigantic, solitary predators feast upon other deep sea fish or squid and are themselves hunted by sperm whales in what must unfold into epic battles of giants in the blackness of the deep ocean.

However, professional underwater cameraman Takayoshi Kojima said that although the squid showed signs of being lively, it seemed that it would not survive long.