Deep Mysteries of Kaikoura Canyon
Photographs by Emory Kristof and Maria Stenzel
Text by Thomas B. Allen
Even in death it has a aura of menace—26 feet long, a boneless, torpedo-shaped body, eight fire-hose thick arms and two longer tentacles covered with hundreds of suckers (including four rows of saw-toothed suckers), and a parrotlike beak.
A beast of legend since Aristotle’s time, the giant squid is the ship-wrecking villain in Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and the sea monster of sailors’ tales. Yet what we know of it comes from only 200 animals trapped in nets or washed up on beaches around the world. We have not been able to study this animal in the wild.
A National Geographic Society expedition arrives at Kaikoura Canyon—off of the New Zealand coast—with a plan: find sperm whales, the squids’ only known enemy, and have the whales lead us to giant squid.
Discover the underwater riches of the Kaikoura Canyon and follow the research team in their quest.
NGM 1998/06