Why is it so hard to capture or study the giant squid?

Question

was just reading a headlinie on a giant squid carcass washing ashore. they are rarely seen and captured on film, let alone being able to study their behavior. with all the technology we have, why is it so difficult to observe them? i know it's deep down, but i thought we had equiptment that can withstand that kind of pressure? i have always been fascinated by this kind of stuff, especially if one of my favorite books as a child was 20,000 leagues under the sea had a mythical giant squid hugging down a ship.

Additional Details

my understanding is they are rare because they are too deep for us to explore at length. if you could sit at the bottom of the ocean and observe you would see plenty.

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

There are a lot of factors working against us here.
1. giant squids are rare.
2. The ocean is a VERY big place.
3. the submersible we would put down into the ocean to search for this squid would probably scare the squid off.

Therefore when one washes up on land we should learn as much as we can from it.

Answer 2

No matter how advanced technology is, you still need to face the fact that giant squids are rare, very rare.

Answer 3

The depth at which they live and the limited knowledge we have about their habits makes interractions between squid and humans very rare.

Answer 4

because giant squids are very rare, and add the facts that they only live in very deep ocean, that the ocean is such a large place, and the little knolwdge about live giant squids, we dont know where, or when to look for them.

Answer 5

They live in a habitat with no light. If you want to see them, you have to shine a light on them, and then you will only see them if they swim in front of the camera or porthold, and they are less than say....50-60 feet away?

Also, they are not on the top of the food chain. Sperm whales for example, think they are delicious. So they are on the lookout for predators & anything strange.

Machines / submarines / submersibles are probably loud down there, plus any light gives away your position and might scare them away.

Answer 6

I am going to answer this question by asking a question!!!!!

If we know so little about them, how do we know that they live in the great depths of the ocean?

Is it just because the oceans are so big and that they are so rare?

They have been caught in fishing nets!!!!!!