10 ScholaStic Scope • MARCH 12, 2012

Compare & Contrast

How sCientists disCoveRed tHe tRutH

beHind one of tHe sCariest sea monsters

of all time

MONSTEROF THE SEA

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PaireD teXts two texts that share a theme or topic

MONSTEROF THE SEA

on a moonless January night in 2003,

a famous French yachtsman named

Olivier de Kersauson was racing across

the Atlantic Ocean. He was trying to break the

record for the fastest sailing voyage around the

world when his boat came to a mysterious halt.

In the darkness, de Kersauson’s massive 110-

foot boat shook violently. The mast rattled and

the hull shuddered. The crew ran up and down

the deck, shining flashlights into the water,

trying to figure out what was going on. Below

deck, first mate Didier Ragot peered through a

porthole into the ocean.

Then he saw it: an enormous tentacle

snaking around the ship.

nonfiCtion

WWW.ScholaStic.com/Scope • MARCH 12, 2012 11

Go to Scope online for our dramatic

readinG of tennySon’S poem, the KraKen!

12 ScholaStic Scope • MARCH 12, 2012

legends about fearsome beasts that attack ships and

drag everyone onboard to a watery death.

Some of the craziest stories have come from sailors.

For centuries, men have returned home from long

voyages with terrifying tales of enormous, squidlike

beasts. These creatures, some said, were larger than

whales and stronger than elephants. One of the most

feared was the kraken, which could supposedly trap a

ship by creating a huge whirlpool.

Scientists thought these stories were little more

than tall tales—or hallucinations brought on by

sunstroke. Then, in 1873, a fisherman off the coast

of Newfoundland returned to shore with a 19-foot

tentacle. Scientists realized that the kraken—or

something like the kraken—was really out there.

squid squadsEventually, scientists deduced that what sailors were

probably seeing was a kind of giant squid. Every so

often, huge squid body parts would wash up on a beach

or become tangled in fishing nets. Yet, no scientist had

actually seen a living giant squid.

In the 1960s, oceanographers developed the

technology to explore deeper in the ocean than ever

a Horror movieThe creature was like something out

of a horror movie. Some 30 feet long, it had glistening

skin and long arms covered in toothy suckers that left

impressions on the sides of the boat. It seemed to be

wrapping itself around the ship, which was creaking

and groaning under the strain.

Just when the crew thought the boat would snap into

pieces, everything went still.

The creature was gone.

“I’ve been sailing for 40 years, and I’ve always had an

answer for everything—for hurricanes and icebergs,” de

Kersauson would later say. “But I didn’t have an answer

for this. It was terrifying.”

What the crew claimed they saw—a claim

that many regard as a tall tale—was a

giant squid.

But are giant squid even real?

a tall tale?Sea monsters have

captured our imaginations

for thousands of years.

There are countless

movies, novels, and

tHe KraKen is a monster from

Norse mythology, but sailors claimed it was

real for centuries. It was said to attack ships, then eat everyone.

Bon appétit!

tHe HYDra is a water monster

from Greek mythology. If you cut off one of its heads, two more will grow. The Hydra has the worst breath ever—

as in, catch a whiff and you’ll fall down dead. (Have a

mint already!)

the leGend

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WWW.ScholaStic.com/Scope • MARCH 12, 2012 13

before.

Teams of

scientists called “squid squads”

started combing the high seas

in hopes of glimpsing one of

these elusive creatures. For

them, giant squid represented

all that we don’t know about the

ocean. (As much as 95 percent of

the ocean remains unexplored today.)

Still, no one could find one.

Unlocking the mysteriesMarine biologist Steve O’Shea has been trying to find

giant squid since 1996, when a fisherman showed him

the corpse of one. Step into O’Shea’s office or home and

you might think you’ve walked into a mad scientist’s

lab. Jars of squid parts line his shelves; unblinking squid

eyes stare out at you. In the garage, he keeps stacks of

boxes with squid carcasses that have washed up on

beaches around the world.

Over the years, O’Shea has managed to unlock a few

of the many mysteries surrounding these creatures. For

one thing, giant squid are indeed giant. They can weigh

up to 1,000 pounds and grow to almost 60 feet. O’Shea

also knows why giant squid are so hard to

find. They live thousands of feet below the

surface of the ocean, far deeper than any

human can go. They have enormous eyes—

larger than those of any other animal—which enable

them to flee at the first sign of trouble. And thanks to

their highly developed nerves, they can react in an

instant, darting away from a net or camera.

The closest O’Shea has ever come to capturing

a live giant squid was in 2001, when he caught 17

babies—each about the size of a grasshopper. His

plan was to raise them in captivity. But by the time

he reached shore, all the babies were dead. Crying,

O’Shea pulled the corpses out himself. He later learned

the tank was made of a material that is toxic to squid.

a Breakthrough at lastIn 2004, researchers finally had a

breakthrough. Two Japanese scientists

were tracking a pod of sperm whales off

the coast of Japan. They had a hunch the

whales might lead them to a squid’s lair.

They were right.

After days of searching with an underwater camera,

they caught sight of something stuck under a rock: a

creature the size of a school bus. Its eyes were as big as

basketballs. It had eight flapping arms and two long,

sinewy tentacles. It thrashed so wildly to break free that

one tentacle broke off in the struggle. Before it got away,

the scientists snapped more than 500 photos. They also

hauled the 18-foot tentacle onto their boat. In 2005, the

same team found another giant squid 3,000 feet below

the surface—and managed to film it.

Since then, millions have viewed the photographs

and watched the footage. But to this day, no one has

been able to capture a living specimen to study, though

a few have come close.

There are still many mysteries about giant squid. One

thing is certain, though: The monster is real. •

the reality

steve

o’sHea has dedicated his life to

finding giant squid to study. He doesn’t think there is anything monstrous about

them at all.

Giant sqUiD

really look like this!

the ScientiSt

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14 ScholaStic Scope • MARCH 12, 2012

literatUre

a freaK of natUre! in this excerpt from Jules verne’s famous novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the narrator Pierre Aronnax and the crew of the Nautilus battle bloodthirsty sea monsters.

Verne published this novel in 1870, when many still thought giant squid were a myth.

Squid can’t really lift their tentacles out of the water. Once severed, a tentacle doesn’t regrow.

WRITING CONTEST

Verne’s depiction of the squid is based on reports from sailors

about monster sightings

at sea.

An actual giant squid eye looks like this.

Get tHis aCtivitY online

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