Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: [OT] Gotcha!

Chi trova il film lo comunichi, grazie!
Palmiro Pangloss
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First Giant Squid Captured in Wild (on Film, That Is)
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: September 27, 2005
For decades, scientists and sea explorers have mounted costly
expeditions to hunt down and photograph the giant squid, a legendary
monster with eyes the size of dinner plates and a nightmarish tangle of
tentacles lined with long rows of sucker pads.
The goal has been to learn more about a bizarre creature of no little
fame (Jules Verne's giant squid attacked a submarine and Peter
Benchley's ate children) that in real life has stubbornly refused to
give up its secrets. While giant squid have been snagged in fishing
nets, and dead or dying ones have washed ashore, expeditions have
repeatedly failed to photograph a live one in its natural habitat, the
inky depths of the sea.
But in an article to be published Wednesday in a leading British
biological journal, two Japanese scientists, Tsunemi Kubodera and
Kyoichi Mori, report that they have made the world's first observations
of a giant squid in the wild.
Working some 600 miles south of Tokyo off the Bonin Islands, known in
Japan as the Ogasawara Islands, they managed to photograph the creature
with a robotic camera at a depth of 3,000 feet. During a struggle
lasting more than four hours, the 26-foot-long animal took the
proffered bait and eventually broke free, leaving behind an 18-foot
length of tentacle.
The giant squid, the researchers conclude, "appears to be a much more
active predator than previously suspected, using its elongate feeding
tentacles to strike and tangle prey." They report that the tentacles
could apparently coil into a ball, much as a python envelops its
victims.
The Japanese researchers are reporting their findings on Wednesday in
the British publication Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the B
standing for the biological sciences. The Royal Society, based in
London, is the world's oldest scientific organization.
Scientists praised the discovery as a long-awaited breakthrough.
"This has been a mystery for a thousand years," said Richard Ellis,
author of "Monsters of the Sea" (Knopf, 1994). o "Nobody knew what they
looked like in the wild. We only saw them dead. These images will open
the door to more detailed study of their life."
The squid hunters themselves are agog, and some perhaps a bit jealous.
"Wow!" said Emory Kristof, a photographer for National Geographic who
twice ventured to New Zealand in hopes of capturing giant squid on
film. "It's always been a presumption to say you're hunting the giant
squid when we know so little. It's great that they got it."
The Japanese researchers work for the National Science Museum in Tokyo
and the Ogasawara Whale-Watching Association.
They discovered the giant by following packs of sperm whales, which are
known to feed on the giant invertebrates. With squid remains being
found near the Bonin Islands, the researchers focused the hunt there.
The explorers created a float system with a long line from which they
suspended a robotic camera and strobe light. The camera looked downward
at hooks baited with a small squids and took pictures every 30 seconds.
A bag of mashed shrimps acted as an odor lure. The researchers set up a
number of such rigs near the islands.
On Sept. 30, 2004, a squid attacked the lowest bait on a rig that was
positioned about 1,000 feet above the seafloor. Giant squid have eight
short arms and two long tentacles. During the attack, the squid wrapped
its two long tentacles like a ball around the bait, the researchers
report.
One of the squid's tentacles was caught, and the creature moved
violently in the next four hours to break free. It was often out of
camera range, suggesting, the scientists say, that it was attempting to
swim free.
After 4 hours 13 minutes of struggle, the animal tore away, leaving a
tentacle behind.
At 26 feet, this is a relatively small specimen; giant squid are
thought to grow as long as 60 feet. But with DNA analysis and other
comparisons with squid that have washed ashore, the researchers
confirmed that it was a giant.
The squid is often known by its genus name, Architeuthis (pronounced
ark-uh-TOOTH-iss), Greek for chief squid. The researchers say their
photos dispel the notion that it is a sluggish creature that trolls for
prey.
"The long tentacles are clearly not weak fishing lines dangled below
the body," they write. "Our images suggest that giant squids are much
more active predators than previously suggested."

 Chi trova il film lo comunichi, grazie!
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/09/0927_050927_giant_squid
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html
Ci sono 9 foto scattate dal giapponese.

 
niente film, solo foto :-)
sono in home page su Repubblica.it
articolo
http://www.repubblica.it/2005/i/sezioni/scienza_e_tecnologia/calamgig/calamgig/calamgig.html