Anomaly Ledger

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Giant squid (the kraken)

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▶ See the original: First photographs of a live giant squid (2004) ↗
Tsunemi Kubodera and Kyoichi Mori, 30 Sep 2004, off the Ogasawara Islands, Japan. Published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B; copyrighted, so we link.

Painted illustration: enormous red squid with long tentacles drifting in deep blue ocean darkness
AI rendition based on witness descriptions, not an actual photo.
Two professors measuring a giant squid found at Ranheim, Trondheim, Norway, on 2 October 1954.
Two professors measuring a giant squid found at Ranheim, Trondheim, Norway, on 2 October 1954 · NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet · CC BY 2.0 (via Wikimedia Commons) · Image source · License
The Alecton attempts to capture a giant squid off Tenerife in 1861.
The Alecton attempts to capture a giant squid off Tenerife in 1861 · Attributed to the direction of Charles Bévalet · Public domain (via Wikimedia Commons) · Image source

The real giant squid, Architeuthis, long the likely source of kraken and sea-monster stories.

Explained Verdict: Real, and the most likely origin of many kraken stories.

Region
Oceans · Records, sky & method · International waters
First reports
Norse kraken tales; scientifically described by Japetus Steenstrup in the 1850s

Key sightings

Best evidence

Specimens and peer-reviewed photographs prove the animal exists.

Sources