A picture of a squid is not proof of a species. In 2004, a camera on a bait line faced the bait and snapped a photograph every 30 seconds for four to five hours. On September 30, 2004, off Japan's Ogasawara Islands, it photographed a giant squid alive in the deep ocean, taking bait about 900 metres (3,000 feet) down. The squid was about eight metres long.
Scientists proved the squid was a giant squid by taking DNA samples from a piece of its tentacle. As of November 2026, the first photographs of a live giant squid in the ocean were reported in September 2005.
In March 2013, scientists reported that DNA from giant squid around the world shows they are one species. The 2013 study analysed DNA from the remains of 43 giant squid collected from all over the world.
DNA can also come from seawater: eDNA is genetic material that animals naturally shed, through skin, fluids or waste, and scientists can find it in seawater. In a study of seawater from deep canyons off Western Australia, scientists found eDNA from a giant squid.
Light is a problem for filming, because giant squid see best in blue light. Scientists filming them in the deep sea used red lighting, which is less likely to disturb them, and the cameras use lights that the squid cannot see.
Because eyeballs collapse and the head sags after a giant squid dies, scientists have to take some guesses when they measure them. Guinness says the 1887 Lyall Bay report of 55 ft 2 in was most likely too long because the elastic tentacles were over-stretched.
Giant squid live in the deep sea, perhaps 200 to 1,000 meters down. That depth is usually called the twilight zone, where light fades quickly. Giant squid are usually found near the slopes of continents and islands.
As of November 2026, scientists do not know how many giant squid there are, and the IUCN Red List lists the giant squid as Least Concern, last assessed 28 April 2010.
Words to know
- species: kind of animal
- eDNA: shed DNA
- analysed: studied closely
- tentacle: long arm
