Sailors' tales of a huge many-armed sea monster go back at least to a Norwegian account from 1180. In 1853, a giant squid washed up on a Danish beach, and a scientist named it Architeuthis. The largest recorded reached about 18 metres, counting its two long tentacles.
Truth label: Established. Strong evidence and broad agreement among experts.
Go deeper
A scientist believed it
Carl Linnaeus included the kraken among real animals in the first edition of his great catalogue of nature in 1735.
Finally on film
In 2005, Japanese researchers T. Kubodera and K. Mori released the first footage of a live giant squid in the wild, about 900 metres down in the North Pacific.
Learn
- Built for the dark. Giant squid live deep, down to around 1,100 metres and perhaps 2,000. That is why so few people have ever seen one alive.
- Still a puzzle. Scientists still debate whether there is one species of giant squid or as many as 20.
Test yourself
About how long was the largest giant squid on record?
18 metres. About 18 metres, including its very long tentacles. Most are much smaller.
Sources
Swipe more like this
CurioUS is a feed you steer. Pick what you're curious about and every swipe tunes what comes next.
Open this card in the appMore from Myths & Legends
- A self-taught printer found a flood story older than Noah's on a clay tablet.
- Was there a real Trojan War?
- A Native American story may remember a volcano that exploded 7,700 years ago.
- Did elephant skulls give the Greeks the idea of the Cyclops?
- Could the story of the Seven Sisters be 100,000 years old?
- For centuries, Europe's 'unicorn horns' were whale teeth.