Could a Giant Squid Take Down a Submarine?

Tales of squid attacking ships go way back, and there are some known instances of squid attacking subs, but could a cephalopod really take down a modern vessel? Learn what researchers think in this episode of BrainStuff.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,
Lauren vog obamb here. About three hundred different species of
squid have been swimming in the world's oceans for more
than four hundred million years. There are three species that
grow too massive proportions, the giant, the colossal, and the jumbo,
also known as the Humboldt squid. While many squid are

(00:24):
just a few inches long, giant and colossal squid are enormous.
These two types are estimated to reach from thirty five
to sixty ft in length that's about ten to eighteen
meters including their body and tentacles. That's larger than a
full length school bus, and they can weigh up to
a thousand pounds or about four dred and fifty Their
protruding eyes are the size of volleyballs. Humboldt squid are

(00:46):
the smallest of the three, only about six feet that's
two ms long and a hundred pounds or forty five ms.
But how did these marine animals get so big? The
most common explanation is a phenomenon called deep sea gig antism.
The theory suggests that over time, small, shallow water creatures
evolved to live at vast deep sea levels by getting bigger,

(01:08):
likely due to a combination of food supply and the
increased size of the predators at great depths. In shallow waters,
it's advantageous to stay small because there's limited food. But
at the extreme depths where massive squid are thought to
live between about six hundred and fifty and two thousand,
six hundred feet that's about two hundred to seven hundred
meters below the surface, bigger creatures have size and endurance

(01:30):
on their side when traveling longer distances in search of food.
When you're a small fish in a large pond, you're
a snack. But if you're the big fish, you have
your choice of snacks. But is the whole ocean there buffet,
including human, ships and submarines. Sea creatures feature prominently in
seafairer tales around the world, dating back to ancient times.

(01:51):
In Greek and Roman mythology, there's tales of great battles
between man and marine monsters capable of pulling ships underwater.
Twelfth century Norwegian sailors old stories of sea creatures they
had seen. By the eighteenth century, the creatures of Norwegian
legend had grown to the likes of islands with arms.
It's thought that giant, colossal and Humboldt squid are aggressive,

(02:11):
opportunistic creatures that prey on anything that comes their way,
from easy meals of fish and shrimp to a more
sporting hunt of other large cephalopods and whales. The Humboldts
specifically are known to be fierce cannibalistic fighters. Mexican fishermen
have nicknamed them dielblos rojos or red devils because of
their body's red color and their hostile nature. And A

(02:32):
squid of colossal dimensions featured in Jules Verns eighteen sixty
nine novel twenty thousand Leagues under the Sea, said to
be a fictionalized account of a real encounter between a
French Navy ship and a giant squid. Whether the original
account is entirely fictional or not, the novel peaked the
public's interest in deep sea gigantism and marine attacks, and
certainly isn't the only account of squid attacking ships. In

(02:55):
the nineteen thirties, the Brunswick, the Royal Norwegian Navy's fifteen
thousand ton tanker, was attacked three separate times by different
giant squid. Each account tells of a squid pursuing the
tanker and striking it. Suddenly, tentacles wrapped around the hull,
fortunately for the sailors, yet unfortunately for the squid. The
steel of the ship proved either too slick or too

(03:15):
hard for the tentacles to grapple and pierce. Each squid
that tried to land the Brunswick ended up perishing after
sliding into the tanker's propellers. As recently as two thousand three,
a giant squid attempted to take down a boat, this
time a French yacht sailing ironically in the Jewels Verne Trophy,
a prize for the fastest global circumnavigation by a yacht. Luckily,

(03:37):
the twenty six ft long that's about eight meters squid
gave up before its demise or that of the boat.
Some scientists are skeptical that squid are dangerous to humans
or watercraft, suggesting that there are species with a fish
based diet and therefore have no need to attack humans
or the steel of a ship. But whether they're actively
pursuing our vessels or not, no gigantic squid has yet

(03:59):
taken down a more earned ship, but it hasn't been
for the lack of trying. Today's episode was written by
Maria Trimarchie and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on
this and lots of other huge topics, visit our home planet,
how Stuff Works dot com.