Case file · Cryptid
Giant squid filmed in the deep
In July 2012 a team from Japan's National Museum of Nature and Science, NHK and Discovery filmed a live giant squid from a submersible at about 630 m near Chichijima.
2012 CE · 27.10, 142.20 · status: official
The account
Kubodera, Edith Widder and Steve O'Shea used a lure that imitated a bioluminescent jellyfish. The footage was broadcast in January 2013.
The researched reading
Solid footage of a real animal. It shows how a creature of legend can be genuine and still almost never seen, which is the best case cryptozoology has, and also the reason the kraken stories exaggerate.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| An unknown or out-of-place animal | 88% | This is the case where a sea monster turned out to be a real, elusive animal: the giant squid, long known mainly from dead strandings and whale stomachs, was filmed alive at about 630 m using a lure that mimicked bioluminescent jellyfish. |
| A cultural story | 7% | The kraken of Norse tradition is an exaggerated cultural memory of this animal; the film confirms the animal, not the ship-sinking legend. |
| Something known, misidentified | 2% | The footage shows the diagnostic features of Architeuthis clearly; there is no room for confusion with another animal. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 1% | Filmed by a national museum, NHK and Discovery with multiple scientists aboard; nothing suggests fakery. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 1% | Instrument footage, not perception, carries this case. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 1% | Nothing about the animal departs from known biology. |
Official position: Scientific filming by Japan’s National Museum of Nature and Science, NHK and Discovery; the animal is the known species Architeuthis dux.