Giant squid filmed in Pacific depths: Japan scientists
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This video image, taken from footage by NHK and Discovery Channel in July, 2012 and released on January 7, 2013 shows a giant squid, up to eight metres (26 feet) long, holding a bait squid in its arms against the backdrop of dark oceanic depths at a depth of 630 meters (2,067 feet) in the sea near Ogasawara islands, 1,000km south of Tokyo. -- PHOTO: AFP PHOTO / NHK / NEP / DISCOVERY CHANNEL
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This video image, taken from footage by NHK and Discovery Channel in July, 2012 and released on January 7, 2013 shows a giant squid, up to eight metres (26 feet) long, against the backdrop of dark oceanic depths at a depth of 630 meters (2,067 feet) in the sea near Ogasawara islands, 1,000km south of Tokyo. -- PHOTO: AFP PHOTO / NHK / NEP / DISCOVERY CHANNEL
This video image, taken from footage by NHK and Discovery Channel in July, 2012 and released on January 7, 2013 shows a giant squid, up to eight metres (26 feet) long, holding a bait squid in its arms against the backdrop of dark oceanic depths at a depth of 630 meters (2,067 feet) in the sea near Ogasawara islands, 1,000km south of Tokyo. -- PHOTO: AFP PHOTO / NHK / NEP / DISCOVERY CHANNEL
This video image, taken from footage by NHK and Discovery Channel in July, 2012 and released on January 7, 2013 shows a giant squid, up to eight metres (26 feet) long, against the backdrop of dark oceanic depths at a depth of 630 meters (2,067 feet) in the sea near Ogasawara islands, 1,000km south of Tokyo. -- PHOTO: AFP PHOTO / NHK / NEP / DISCOVERY CHANNEL
TOKYO (AFP) - Scientists and broadcasters said on Monday that they have captured footage of an elusive giant squid up to eight metres long that roams the depths of the Pacific Ocean.
Japan's National Science Museum succeeded in filming the deep-sea creature in its natural habitat for the first time, working with Japanese public broadcaster NHK and the US Discovery Channel.
They spotted the squid at a depth of 630 metres using a submersible in July, some 15 kilometres east of Chichi island in the north Pacific Ocean.
The submarine with three people on board, including Mr Tsunemi Kubodera from the museum, followed the enormous mollusc to a depth of 900 metres as it swam into the ocean abyss.
