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Comment by cushychicken | Hacker News Reader

Beautiful! Things like this are one of the upsides of the proliferation of cheap cameras - rare sights that would previously go unreported or disbelieved can be easily captured. (Though it's not doing wonders for my holdout belief in Bigfoot.)

Science question here: what's the slit between the squid's mantle (upper body) and the eye? Is that an injury?

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The slit is a water intake and valve for its propulsion and breathing system. It has two with cartilage rims to provide support while opening on the intake and remaining closed as water is pushed out its siphon. Dissected plenty in biology class and while baiting drop lines.

Nah, this slit is the only normal thing about this animal.

What isn't normal about it? (Aside from the fact that it's a nominally deep sea creature in a littoral zone in this instance.)

It is dying and/or much of its flesh is already dead. They should not be white. Even if healthy, those eyes are probably blind in such light. I doubt this animal is capable of reacting to much of anything.

AFAIK this statement is 100% wrong. The Architeuthis, while slow moving, looked totally healthy to the diver and bystanders that looked at it, as well as to this amateur teuthologist (look it up). It sprayed some ink and did exploratory movements with its tentacles that suggested it was confused rather than sick, and while docile, moved on its own throughout all the (five) different videos I saw. Almost certainly a juvenile, it is nonetheless in much warmer and lighter waters that where it lives, which would explain the constricted size of the eyes. The mottled colors are just one of many looks this awesome animal presents to the world, reflecting stress perhaps but not an indication of ill health at all.

Sandworm is right. This is obviously an agonizing squid.

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