Attack Of The Tentacles

A giant squid weighing in at more than 500 pounds was found on a remote beach in Tasmania, Australia, last weekend, where the locals no doubt pronounced the find "icky." Excited scientists thought they'd found a new species of squid at first, but it turned out that the creature was just missing a couple of tentacles. However, that didn't stop squid specialist Steve O'Shea from mentioning that he wanted to freeze the specimen in a giant block of ice so he could tour the Australian Outback with it!

Very little is known about the giant squid, although it's played a surprisingly well-known role in global myths and legends for thousands of years. They have the largest eyes of any animal on earth, and their beak-like mouths are powerful enough to cut through a steel cable. Rarely seen in the wild, squid patrol continental shelves far below the surface of the ocean. The carnivorous mollusks propel themselves through the cold deep by using a jettison of water that's moved through the body by a siphon, and they eat fish, other squid, and sometimes whales. Yes, evidence over the years has suggested that sperm whales - the classic squid adversary - may not be the aggressor!

Check out the books below, and learn more about the mammoth, mythical giant squid!

The Search For The Giant Squid
by Richard Ellis
Ellis is a veteran writer and illustrator of popular science books about the sea (Mysteries Of The Sea, Deep Atlantic). Here, he decides to take on the history and biology on one of the planet's most mysterious and elusive animals. Incredibly, Ellis manages to find enough pertinent material on a subject that hardly anyone knows anything about! The history of what was once popularly known as a sea monster called the "Kraken" is traced from when the first beast was sighted to the present day, along with a clear analysis of squid biology and activity. Sometimes humorous and sometimes creepy, The Search For The Giant Squid is consistently fascinating.

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
by Jules Verne
Verne's classic tale is already familiar to many people. In an attempt to destroy what they think is a giant, renegade narwhal that's been sinking ships worldwide, Professor Arronax, his assistant Conseil, and Canadian harpooner Ned Land are captured and brought aboard what is actually a submarine called The Nautilus. Piloted by the charismatic and morally questionable Captain Nemo, the three are soon caught up in an adventure that includes sunken treasure, sharks, Atlantis, the Great Ice Barrier, and an infamous giant squid. This mid-19th-century novel is obviously somewhat dated, but Verne's incomparable imagination, economy, and sense of pacing make it a timeless, all-ages page-turner.

The Universe Below: Discovering The Secrets Of The Sea
by William J. Broad and Dimitry Schidlovsky
As is apparent from the giant squid, life exists in the sea all the way from the top of the water to the bottom, which on average is a space of about two miles. The deep sea is the largest unexplored region on earth, and Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times science writer Broad uses a combination of science and history to examine myths associated with the ocean and to uncover fascinating recent discoveries. The concisely written and elegantly illustrated The Universe Below is the perfect beach book for popular science readers and budding marine biologists alike.

The Call Of Cthulhu And Other Weird Stories
By H.P. Lovecraft
Horror writer Lovecraft was one of the most influential authors of the 20th century, and curiously obsessed with squid and octopi. Some even say that he had a neurotic aversion to seafood! Either way, his stories are full of slimy, unknown, ancient, many-tentacled things crawling out of the sea to terrorize sailors and various landlubbers alike. This excellent collection of his stories offers a superb overview of his short career, from early macabre thrillers like The Rats In The Walls, to later classic weirdness such as The Shadow Over Innsmouth.

Never Poke A Squid
by Denys Cazet
It's Halloween, and friends Arnie and Raymond decide to dress up as a squid for school. Everything is first-grade fun until the two friends win the costume contest and the principal pins an award on their costume. The pin punctures a container in the costume that squirts ink all over the place, causing general chaos. In this hilarious grade-school epic, Cazet's comical watercolors and the goofy enthusiasm of his characters don't fail to amuse.