LSM4261 MARINE BIOLOGY : video

TED Talks: Tierney Thys: Swim with giant sunfish in the open ocean

N. Sivasothi — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:47:46 GMT

An excellent lecture that the class watched today. See also oceansunfish.org.

First video of a live giant squid (Architeuthis dux) (2006)

N. Sivasothi — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:22:43 GMT

Nippon TV News clip on You Tube

National Geographic News, 22 Dec 2006 — Like pulling a shadow from the darkness, researchers in Japan have captured and filmed a live giant squid—likely for the first time—shedding new light on the famously elusive creatures.

Tsunemi Kubodera, a scientist with Japan's National Science Museum, caught the 24-foot (7-meter) animal earlier this month near the island of Chichijima, some 600 miles (960 kilometers) southeast of Tokyo. His team snared the animal using a line baited with small squid and shot video of the russet-colored giant as it was hauled to the surface.

The squid, a young female, "put up quite a fight" as the team attempted to bring it aboard, Kudobera told the Associated Press, and the animal died from injuries sustained during the capture.

Giant squid, the world's largest invertebrates, are thought to reach sizes up to 60 feet (18 meters), but because they live at such great ocean depths they have never been studied in the wild. Kubodera has spent three years searching for the creatures, and his team scored a coup in 2004 when it used a remote underwater camera to take the first-ever photographs of a live giant squid.

The capture may be a sign that giant squid are more plentiful than had been thought, Kubodera said, and the event could help open up more fruitful research into the poorly understood animal. "Now that we know where to find them, we think we can be more successful at studying them in the future," he said. —Blake de Pastino

See also National Geographic Fast Facts: Giant Squid (Architeuthis dux).

Shark versus Octopus video

N. Sivasothi — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 07:17:27 GMT

This time it is a video you mentioned to me, I hope I got it right: "Shark versus Octopus" video on YouTube:

Having just watched this again, I realise, yes, I have watched it before. I think it will help me calm the the first years down later...thanks!

Sharkwater movie Yuhan mentioned

N. Sivasothi — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 05:30:12 GMT

Sharkwater, the movie Yuhan mentioned during his and Grace's presentation is opening in US theaters on 2nd November 2007. See the trailer below and he synopsis at the film's webpage.

Interesting, I had not heard of this movie before.

Sea otter rafting video

N. Sivasothi — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 05:24:41 GMT

This is the popular YouTube video that was uploaded eight months ago and received more than 8 million views! See this CBC news story.