The giant squid is a very elusive sea creature and has baffled curious scientists and sea creature enthusiasts all over the world. The creature is almost impossible to intentionally spot since it dwells in deep sea waters.
Recently, a rare spotting had occured in central Japan where a 3.7 meter giant squid was seen swimming close to the surface under fishing boats in Toyama Bay. The giant squid lingered for a few hours along the fishing docks before it was guided by Akinobu Kimura, owner of local dive shop Kaiyu, back to the ocean.
Luckily, Kimura along with other onlookers took a video footage of the rare sighting. Using a submersible camera, Kimura dived in the water to witness the giant squid in close proximity. It would not be normal for a person to see a giant squid and decide to jump right in to interact with it but Kimura was overcome by curiousity. "My curiosity was way bigger than fear, so I jumped into the water and go close to it," says Kimura.
The squid was not harmed during its rare visit and Kimura assured everyone that the squid looked "lively" and even tried to tangle him with its tentacles. After confirming that it was safe, the fearless diver guided the squid several hundred meters from the area it was found in, and it disappeared into the deep sea.
There has been more than a dozen reports of giant squids reeled in along with other fishes in the last seaon according to Yuki Ikushi curator of Uozu Aquarium in Uozu, Toyama.
The squid spotted in Toyama was not fully grown even at a length of 12.1 feet. Giant squids have the ability to grow 13 meters long when fully matured and live in deep sea water. Reasons as to why the baby giant squid got lost so close to surface waters remain unclear.