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Article: Stalking the giant squid: will we ever find the largest legend of the sea? (although 200 dead giant squid have been washed ashore, no one has found the 60 ft-long animal alive and in the sea, but Clyde Roper a Smithsonian biologist will seek to find one)(Cover Story)
- Article from:
- Science World
- Article date:
- November 3, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Scholastic, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Will we ever find the largest legend of the sea?
The giant squid is no ordinary calamari. It can grow up to 18 m (60 ft) long--the length of two school buses. Its eyes are larger than any other creature's on Earth. Its eight arms are studded with tooth-edged suction cups that can lash a hungry sperm whale, its main predator (enemy).
But nobody has seen a giant squid alive in its natural habitat--ever. How do scientists even know the beast exists? About 200 dead giant squid have washed ashore in the past century. And several dying ones are nabbed each year by fishermen combing deep waters with huge nets. But somehow, a real live giant squid has managed to ...