PopTech

jstn:

Discovery/NHK’s show about the giant squid is a must-watch if you’re into such things. There’s some debate about how interesting the footage is and whether or not it’s technically The First, but personally I think it’s incredible. They lure it with a smaller squid as bait, and it hangs around eating for 23 minutes while they film it in bright white light. It’s much better than a couple tentacles flashing by in infrared. From NHK’s press release:

During a dive by Dr. Kubodera, an NHK cameraman, and the submersible pilot at the depth of 630 meters, they came face-to-face with the giant squid and followed it to a depth of 900 meters. The squid was missing its characteristic two longest tentacles, but nevertheless measured about 3 m in length. If this pair of tentacles had been intact, the creature would probably have measured 7 - 8 m.

Mark Dery’s essay about the video is a great followup.

By the way, Discovery, I would gladly pay for the opportunity to download the unedited 23 minutes from the main camera in HD.