The Legend of the Kraken
The Legend of the Kraken
The Legend of the Kraken
The giant creature known as the Kraken is a mythological monster that is an indispensable element of pirate films, creature films, and some horror, thriller, and adventure films.
The name of this creature also appears in Greek mythology.
It is described as a legendary cephalopod sea monster capable of capsizing a large pirate ship with its arms extending all the way to the tops of the masts.
The legend, intertwined with mythology, has been documented in literature since 1180 in Scandinavian mythology (particularly in Norway—the Örvar-Odrr legend).
In 1853, the discovery of a giant cephalopod creature washed ashore in Denmark brought the subject to a new level, establishing the Kraken as a living creature in both science and mythology, with records indicating it was 18 meters long and possessed the largest eyes in the animal kingdom.
In 1888, a giant squid measuring 19 meters in length washed ashore in New Zealand, and its weight was determined to be over one ton and recorded.
While the modern scientific community does not acknowledge the creature featured in the Kraken legend based on current data, it has had to accept the existence of giant squids in the oceans, which are quite similar to it.
Although their sizes do not reach the exaggerated giant dimensions of the Kraken, females can reach 13 meters and males 10 meters in length. Some giant squids have been visualized and published by researchers through special studies and methods. (For example, on December 4, 2006, a Japanese underwater research team in the Ogasawara Islands successfully filmed a 7-meter-long giant squid for the first time using special cameras.)
Giant squids, which are known to exist and have been observed in the depths of the oceans, where only five percent has been explored, represent millions of years of evolution.
The largest recorded weights of these giant squids are 275 kg for females and 150 kg for males.
These giant creatures, which have the largest eye structure on Earth, can have an eye diameter of up to 30 cm.
The greatest enemy of this species is the sperm whale, also known as the “sperm whale” (Physeter Macrocephalus – Sperm Whales), as well as large marine creatures such as catfish, seals, and sharks.
Due to the high ammonia content in the bodies of these giant squids, their meat is not very popular among humans.
In conclusion:
We have learned and seen that squid have extremely high-quality and sharp vision, grasping, catching, and powerful arms, secretions containing toxic substances, the ability to change color and texture, and special ink-spraying capabilities, making them highly effective hunters and masters of camouflage…
I am fully and firmly convinced that the squid is a miracle of nature, an extraordinary creature with its magnificent, fascinating, extraordinary, intelligent, talented, and highly mysterious characteristics.
I am also certain that I will never be able to eat this miraculous creature…
But I must confess that during my dives, especially in the depths of the sea, I would never wish to encounter giant squids.
I hope I never do.”
Excerpted from Yalçın Alganer’s article.
Doğanın Mucizeleri Serisi: Kamuflajın Kralı ”Mürekkep Balığı”…
