Monster from the deep caught on film

By AINSLEY THOMSON

Giant squid have often starred as fictional creatures in sci-fi films but they have never been seen alive - until now.

For the first time an international expedition team has succeeded in capturing living juvenile giant squid off the coast of New Zealand.

The expedition to catch the giant squid was led by marine biologist Dr Steve O'Shea, and has been filmed by the Discovery Channel.

Giant squid are the world's largest invertebrate and grow to more than 12m, but the captured juvenile form are tiny, ranging from 9mm to 13mm.

Despite their huge adult size giant squid are surprisingly elusive.

All knowledge of the creatures comes from legends - the Vikings thought they were sea monsters - and dead specimens brought up in fishing nets or washed ashore.

Although they exist in all of the world's oceans, the largest concentration is thought to be in the southern hemisphere near New Zealand.

Dr O'Shea, an authority on giant squid and a researcher at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa), studied the corpses of more than 60 adult giant squid before deciding that the best odds of finding one and keeping it alive were to search for the juvenile form. He led two excursions to find the species, one off the west coast in the winter of 2000, and the other off the east coast last summer.

The expedition team managed to catch seven live giant squid. They simulated the squids' home environment as closely as possible to minimise stress, but the babies were too vulnerable to make it.

Dr O'Shea has gained valuable knowledge about keeping the giant squid alive, creating hope that one day he will be able to raise them to adults.

* The Discovery Channel programme, Chasing Giants: On the trail of the giant squid screens on Monday, March 11, at 9 pm.