The Kraken attacks a ship. Unknown author. Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org
Hundreds of years ago, sailors were terrified by the Kraken, a dreadful sea monster capable of sinking ships and with a taste for human flesh. Today we know the legends of this monster were based on sightings of giant squids. This animal belongs to the genus Architeuthis and was the subject of many scientific studies. Despite its enormous size (up to 18m), the giant squid is astoundingly elusive and much of its biology remains unknown. Thus shrouded in mystery, Architeuthis is almost a mythological creature and has a place both in science and in myth: the very last of the legends to persist to this day.
In the article “The Kraken: when myth encounters science“, published in HSCM new issue “Oceans and Seas: history, science, policy ” (vol.21, no.3, jul./sep. 2014), Rodrigo B. Salvador (Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart) and Barbara M. Tomotani (Netherlands Institute of Ecology) investigates not only the myth but also the animal that have inspired it.
See the full article.
See the full issue “Oceans and Seas: history, science, policy ” in Scielo.
Photo of an Architeuthis specimen found in Ranheim, Norway, being measured by Professors Erling Sivertsen and Svein Haftorn (NTNU Museum of Natural History and Archaeology [1954]. Available at: http://commons.wikimedia.org)
