Rare Giant Squid Discovery Off Japanese Coast Stuns Locals”
On April 20th, at approximately 10 a.m. local time, residents living near Ugu Beach in the city of Obama, Fukui Prefecture, were taken aback when they encountered an unusual sight in the shallow waters. This remarkable discovery turned out to be a massive “giant squid,” a rarity that local authorities described as “an exceedingly uncommon spectacle.”
Fishermen were left in awe as they discovered a colossal giant squid, measuring over 3 meters in length, washed ashore. Initially, this peculiar sea creature went unnoticed, but closer inspection revealed its extraordinary nature.
Japanese news outlet Mainichi quoted a local official who expressed the rarity of a live giant squid washing ashore. “The fact that a live giant squid washed up on the beach is peculiar and indeed a rare occurrence,” the official stated.
Subsequently, a video capturing the large-sized squid swimming in the shallow waters was shared on Twitter, where it immediately garnered the attention of hundreds of thousands of online viewers.
The marine creature has since been transported to the Echizen Matsushima Aquarium in Sakai City, Osaka, Japan. Experts have highlighted that giant squids of such dimensions typically inhabit deep-sea environments.
A marine biologist explained, “It is incredibly challenging to find giant squids near coastal areas because they primarily reside in the deepest parts of the ocean, typically at depths ranging from 650 to 900 meters below sea level.”
While such occurrences are indeed rare, there have been past instances of giant squids washing ashore. For instance, in 2020, a giant squid was found stranded on a beach in South Africa. Another colossal sea creature was raised from Japanese waters in 2006, measuring a remarkable 7.3 meters, as reported by National Geographic.
In 2020, a nearly 3-meter-long (deceased) giant squid was also discovered washed ashore on the western coast of Japan. The maritime agency in Odashukuno, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, noted that sightings of giant squids in this region are extremely rare, occurring only about 5 to 6 times in the past 20 years.
Often informally referred to as “sea monsters” or the “Kraken,” giant squids encompass multiple species. These remarkable creatures are recognized for their potential lengths of up to 13 meters or 10 meters and are commonly found in the deep waters of the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans, spanning from the coast of Mexico through the Hawaiian Islands to the Ogasawara Islands in Japan.
In June 2019, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a highly rare video showcasing a giant squid in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The 28-second video depicted the creature’s movements towards the camera, seemingly wrapping its lengthy tentacles around the NOAA camera lens before swiftly swimming away.
