A giant squid, captured for the first time in its deep-sea
habitat, swimming in July in the Pacific Ocean off northern
Japan. / NHK/NEP/Discovery Channel/AP The first images of the
human-shy giant squid in its natural habitat, filmed in the
black depths of the Pacific Ocean, have been released. The
silvery, 9-foot-long mollusk - scientists said it could have
been up to 26 feet long if its two longest tentacles had not
been severed - was filmed in July off Japan's Chichi island by a
three-man crew from the National Museum of Nature and Science.
The scientists followed the creature in their submersible to a
depth of more than 2,700 feet as it vanished into the ocean
darkness, where oxygen is scarce and pressure is enormous.
Japanese broadcaster NHK showed footage Monday. The squid, with
black eyes the size of dinner plates, clutched a bait squid in
its remaining arms as it swam against the current. "It was
shining and so beautiful," researcher Tsunemi Kubodera told AFP.
"I was so thrilled." The footage will be