Skip to comments.
RARE PHOTOS: Giant Squid Eaten by Sperm Whale
nationalgeographic ^
| October 29, 2009--
Posted on 11/02/2009 1:17:43 PM PST by JoeProBono
Carrying the remains of a roughly 30-foot (9-meter) giant squid in her jaws, a female sperm whale, with a calf at her side, swims near the surface off Japan's Bonin Islands (map)in the northwestern Pacific. Taken on October 15, this and other "absolutely sensational" new pictures offer rare proof of the sperm whale's taste for giant squid, said giant squid expert Steve O'Shea of the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand.
The pictures may also reveal that adult sperm whales, which grow up to 59 feet (18 meters) long, use pieces of their prizes to teach youngsters how to catch their own, O'Shea told National Geographic News.
The group of five adults and one calf kept diving deep in unison, photographer Tony Wu told the Daily Mail. "It seemed as if the adult whales were trying to teach the baby to dive and also to eat squid," he said.
TOPICS: Outdoors; Pets/Animals; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: jpb; squid; whale
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-50, 51-52 next last
An 11.5-foot-long (3.5-meter-long) leftover, this giant squid arm was recovered at the surface from another sperm whale hunt on October 14, 2009, in the same place as feeding frenzy photographed underwater the next day.
To: JoeProBono; Slings and Arrows
Cal Amari? Now seating Cal Amari...
2
posted on
11/02/2009 1:18:58 PM PST
by
a fool in paradise
(I refuse to "reduce my carbon footprint" all while Lenin remains in an airconditioned shrine)
To: JoeProBono
It would be fatal to a diver if that squid got a liplock on him with those arms!
3
posted on
11/02/2009 1:20:39 PM PST
by
rahbert
To: JoeProBono
It would be fatal to a diver if that squid got a liplock on him with those arms!
4
posted on
11/02/2009 1:20:54 PM PST
by
rahbert
To: JoeProBono
5
posted on
11/02/2009 1:21:14 PM PST
by
FTJM
To: JoeProBono
That looks nasty, but I am somewhat dyslexic. I thought you had a picture of Barney Frank I was going to have to report to Jim Rob.
6
posted on
11/02/2009 1:21:47 PM PST
by
MIchaelTArchangel
(DEFUND THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE NOW!)
To: JoeProBono
7
posted on
11/02/2009 1:24:08 PM PST
by
BGHater
("real price of every thing ... is the toil and trouble of acquiring it")
To: JoeProBono
8
posted on
11/02/2009 1:24:12 PM PST
by
MaxMax
(Obama can't play in the Olympic reindeer games)
To: JoeProBono
Squid. It’s what’s for supper.
To: Billthedrill
Not so ‘giant’ when compared to the whale.
10
posted on
11/02/2009 1:27:38 PM PST
by
FlashBack
('0'bama: "Katrina on a Global Level")
To: JoeProBono
To: JoeProBono
Mammals - 1, Cephalopods - 0. Top o’ da food chain, Baby!
12
posted on
11/02/2009 1:28:52 PM PST
by
Lou Budvis
(Reagan and Thatcher didn't win by running to the middle.)
To: 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten
To: Billthedrill
giant squid probably tougher than my boots.
To: Shimmer1
15
posted on
11/02/2009 1:30:03 PM PST
by
null and void
(We are now in day 284 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
To: JoeProBono
16
posted on
11/02/2009 1:31:37 PM PST
by
Codeflier
(We just had 8 more years of a democrat president in office, we already know what happens!)
To: 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten
17
posted on
11/02/2009 1:33:24 PM PST
by
JoeProBono
(A closed mouth gathers no feet)
To: JoeProBono
18
posted on
11/02/2009 1:34:03 PM PST
by
b4its2late
(Before you can control a horse, you have to break it. Sound familiar?)
To: rahbert
19
posted on
11/02/2009 1:35:46 PM PST
by
JoeProBono
(A closed mouth gathers no feet)
To: rahbert
From what I understand, no diver could survive going deep enough to be in the giant squid’s natural habitat.
20
posted on
11/02/2009 1:36:20 PM PST
by
envisio
To: a fool in paradise
21
posted on
11/02/2009 1:37:40 PM PST
by
JoeProBono
(A closed mouth gathers no feet)
To: JoeProBono
Sperm Whale Eats Giant Squid...
There is a joke in there somewhere...
22
posted on
11/02/2009 1:38:13 PM PST
by
DariusBane
(Even the Rocks shall cry out "Hobamma to the Highest")
To: Thud
To: rahbert
24
posted on
11/02/2009 1:40:21 PM PST
by
JoeProBono
(A closed mouth gathers no feet)
To: JoeProBono
Sequel to?
25
posted on
11/02/2009 1:42:37 PM PST
by
Kartographer
(".. we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.")
To: FlashBack
26
posted on
11/02/2009 1:43:47 PM PST
by
JoeProBono
(A closed mouth gathers no feet)
To: BGHater
27
posted on
11/02/2009 1:46:32 PM PST
by
JoeProBono
(A closed mouth gathers no feet)
To: JoeProBono
Now THAT one looks giant!!!!!!
28
posted on
11/02/2009 1:46:33 PM PST
by
FlashBack
('0'bama: "Katrina on a Global Level")
To: Kartographer
Man, I surfed into that flick on SciFi the other night.
Wow. What a phenomenally bad movie. Really awful. Not just a tongue-in-cheek flick TRYING to be bad (think "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes") ....but a movie still pretentiously trying to be serious, while everyone in the theater is laughing at it.
What I'm trying to say here is that it's a bad movie. Skip it.
29
posted on
11/02/2009 1:53:34 PM PST
by
wbill
To: JoeProBono
30
posted on
11/02/2009 1:59:54 PM PST
by
JoeProBono
(A closed mouth gathers no feet)
To: wbill
Yes you are correct I caught about ten minutes of it and it was all I could stand!
31
posted on
11/02/2009 2:03:31 PM PST
by
Kartographer
(".. we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.")
To: JoeProBono
Hmmmm. Ika. Delicious ...
32
posted on
11/02/2009 2:06:12 PM PST
by
altair
(All I want for Christmas is NO legislation passed for the rest of the year)
To: JoeProBono
33
posted on
11/02/2009 2:07:55 PM PST
by
GulfBreeze
(Palin 2012 - For The Change You Wanted!!!)
To: altair
Hmmmm. Ika. Delicious But odiferous. LOL!
34
posted on
11/02/2009 2:13:08 PM PST
by
mollynme
(cogito, ergo freepum)
To: JoeProBono
From the article:
Sperm whales are voracious hunters of squid, and one animal can consume an estimated 110 million tons a year.
110 million tons would the whale's weight in squid every four seconds 24x7 for a year.
35
posted on
11/02/2009 2:14:08 PM PST
by
cynwoody
To: cynwoody
36
posted on
11/02/2009 2:19:09 PM PST
by
JoeProBono
(A closed mouth gathers no feet)
To: JoeProBono; cogitator; neverdem
Just something interesting ping ...
37
posted on
11/02/2009 2:19:50 PM PST
by
Robert A. Cook, PE
(I can only donate monthly, but socialists' ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
To: JoeProBono
%%
When a whale’s got your head, you’re about good as dead - Calamari...
%%
38
posted on
11/02/2009 2:37:08 PM PST
by
mikrofon
(Somewhat larger than a Moray)
To: JoeProBono
39
posted on
11/02/2009 2:37:30 PM PST
by
nesnah
To: JoeProBono
the headline made me think this was about Bill Clinton eating at an Italian restaurant....
To: nesnah
41
posted on
11/02/2009 2:45:07 PM PST
by
JoeProBono
(A closed mouth gathers no feet)
To: JoeProBono
42
posted on
11/02/2009 2:46:08 PM PST
by
dfwgator
To: JoeProBono; CounterCounterCulture
To: Kartographer
Oh, please no - that sucked even for a B-disaster movie!
To: dfwgator
45
posted on
11/02/2009 2:58:08 PM PST
by
JoeProBono
(A closed mouth gathers no feet)
To: DariusBane
Sperm Whale Eats Giant Squid... Giant Whale Eats Sperm Squid................
46
posted on
11/02/2009 4:13:59 PM PST
by
SkyPilot
To: cynwoody
110 million tons! Japan doesn’t consume that much squid a year.
47
posted on
11/02/2009 8:56:12 PM PST
by
JrsyJack
(There's a little Jim Thompson in all of us)
To: rahbert
It would be fatal to a diver if that squid got a liplock on him with those arms!You can say that again!
48
posted on
11/02/2009 10:08:55 PM PST
by
JRios1968
(The real first rule of Fight Club: don't invite Chuck Norris...EVER)
To: DariusBane
Sperm Whale Eats Giant Squid...
There is a joke in there somewhere...Subic Bay?
49
posted on
11/02/2009 10:13:53 PM PST
by
JRios1968
(The real first rule of Fight Club: don't invite Chuck Norris...EVER)
To: nesnah
50
posted on
11/02/2009 10:15:59 PM PST
by
JRios1968
(The real first rule of Fight Club: don't invite Chuck Norris...EVER)
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-50, 51-52 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson
