The giant squid Architeuthis dux isn't a new discovery: it was described in 1857. However, it was ignored by most learned men before that time and, in large part, for many years thereafter. The kraken was a fable, tales of real giants were sailors' tales, etc. It wasn't until 2005 that the first images of a live giant squid were obtained, and until 2012 there was no video.
Now we have amazing footage from Japan of an encounter between humans and squid. The encounter was peaceful, even beneficent: as the 3.7-m squid circled under fishing boats in Toyama Bay, a dive shop owner named Akinobu Kimura dove into the water next to it. It explored him with its tentacles but made more aggressive moves, and he tried to urge it toward the open sea, to which it eventually returned.
We don;t know how many squid there are, where they congregate, or how they spend their lives. Modern science continues to strive to fill in the blanks, but the blanks are enormous. It's a creature of mystery - which is pretty cool.
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