[crabapple]

Yeah. Who knows how big some of those things get down there! And I figure that, hundreds of years ago, before boats became powered, giant squid probably did attack ships and eat people...often enough that the stories became sea lore. When ships themselves became dangerous things to run into, and once we had developed weapons to defend ourselves against angry sea creatures, I think those squids learned to avoid surface travelers. In other words, back when humans were relatively defenseless, attacks by giant squid probably happened a lot, and it was probably pretty horrible.

If you watch the DVD of "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea," there is a documentary about Humboldt Squid--these amazing squid that are actually luminous--they flash on and off like strobe lights, the footage is amazing. And if they encounter something they think they can eat, they are totally deadly. You think of a squid as a soft blobby thing, but Humboldt Squids are not cream puffs. Their tenctacles are powerful and lined with hundreds of teeth, not just suckers. I had never seen any film footage of these creatures, and this documentary was incredible.