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Oil Exploration Leads To Video of a Mysterious Elbowed Squid
eldavojohn writes "A rare glimpse from Shell Oil of a giant squid brings to light the strange relationships some deep sea marine biologists have with drilling companies. The video of the squid (Magnapinna) is very rare as this creature remains largely a mystery to science. While some are concerned of a conflict of interest, biologists and big oil sure make for strange bedfellows. The video is from 200 miles off the coast of Houston, TX and about 4,000 feet down." Looking at this creature gives me the willies, frankly.
Damn, mother nature is really infinitely more inventive than every sci-fi movie director or write in the world. I mean, this is something I would expect to find on some alien planet or something.
As long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields.
biologists and big oil sure make for strange bedfellows
Really? I would think that they (deep sea drillers and deep sea biologists) have learned quite a bit from each other over the years.
--
IP address Finding
Research is research. The data doesn't 'care' who paid for the camera. Besides it is in Shell (or whomever's) interest to understand as much as possible about the location they plan on dumping large amounts of money on.
What happens if there is an alien colony down there? Wouldn't you like to know? Don't go expecting Shell to fund a study of these things, but why wouldn't they show it to people. Looks pretty cool actually.
And didn't the camera say about 7500 feet (not 4000 as in TFS)?
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
This is why I don't eat creatures from the ocean.
Hopefully they'll return the courtesy.
Oil...oil...oil... wtf? Holy shit! Wait Bill, go back, go back, you missed it. Wait. Cut it out! Your screwing up the joystick!
...welcome our new 10-tentacled elbowed cephalopod overlords.
"That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die."
And while we're on the subject.
using nothing but my keyboard and mouse!
It has a bunch of willies hangin' there! Who loves tentacle porn?!
..that humans are working nicely towards disturbing yet another 'ecosystem'. Who'd have thought, these creatures, existing for god knows how many million years, were actually waiting to drink some leaked oil.
Real men read Slashdot articles at -1, bottom up.
Squid with elbows? What's next, jellyfish with knees and octopi with nipples?
In all seriousness, we should be a little concerned about the effects that our deep drilling is having on biodiversity. If we're just now discovering new species at the bottom, them maybe we shouldn't be drilling down there until we've explored more fully, if not just for the sake of protecting our ecosystems from us, then for the sake of protecting our oil rigs from the unknowns in our ecosystems?
I missed any mention of the approximate size of the squid. Does anyone have an idea about how large this creature might have been?
Looks like a giant virus:
http://50milesmore.blogspot.com/2008/03/prepare-to-be-assimalated.html
Squiddy will give you a flu like no other.
Table-ized A.I.
Someone tell Zack Snyder, maybe he can get some budget footage for the Watchmen movie, give it a proper ending.
And I for one welcome our new underwater cthulhu overlords...
You never hear the full quote, but it is so much better then the shortened version:
Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't.
Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart, he dreams himself your master.
Damn nature, you scary!
It's full of tentacles!
- I choked on the red pill and now I'm stuck in limbo
Still not as scary as Dolphins with Opposable Thumbs
It actually made me want to fire up XCom 2 and go destroy some underwater aliens! FWOOSH-BLEAH!
Video and crazy squid mutation
courtesy Shell Oil Corporation.
So this squid drifts just above the bottom of the seabed dragging its tentacles along the bottom to pickup yummy tidbits. Why not put a similar system on that Titan balloon probe for sampling the ground/lakes.
True, although increasingly many large international organisations are paying more than just lip service to sustainability etc. Yes, beacuse they see this is key to making a buck, or just survival, still, it's progress.
Sometimes serendipity intervenes too. On the 'swords into ploughshares' front, look at what they're using SOSUS for these days - whale watching!
A mile and a half (two and a half kilometers) underwater, a remote control submersible's camera has captured an eerie surprise
Anyhow, very creepy.
Actually, is it me or does it kind of look like the queen mother from the Aliens movie? Argh.
Damn, a giant squid, a robot submarine AND big oil!
Now if only;
* The robot ran BSD, but formerly ran Vista
* The MAFIAA was claiming copyright on the film
* On close inspection, the squid had a google logo but was in fact an alien species
* Some jerk had just been granted a lame patent for 'swimming at great depths with tentacles'
We'd never need another!
Someone please shoot the asshole controlling the camera
Chill out - the camera's servo only has one speed as should be obvious from the panning when the view zooms out versus when it zooms in. You would not have done any better.
Giant squids use ammonia salts to provide buoyancy. I can't imagine just how awful that must taste.
At least, Architeuthis species do. I know nothing about whether this kind of squid does, but it wouldn't surprise me since several other, smaller, deep sea squids use ammonia for buoyancy as well.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
I've seen at least three different shows on Discovery Channel about these squid that until a few years ago were considered by most biologists to be nothing by a myth.
One was about the first ever captured specimen of a Giant Squid -- it was almost microscopic and they couldn't keep any alive.
Later, one was about actually getting fleeting video of one in the wild.
Most recent was one about another kind of giant squid that's even bigger and was caught in a net accidentally. The fishing trawler was smart enough to quickly freeze it. In the show, they were able to thaw it carefully and do a dissection. Apparently one of the problems with scientists working with these is that thy decompose extremely rapidly.
Oil exploration is pushing serious camera time deeper than ever. At the same time, an awareness of the value to science of creatures that we don't know about is making inroads into fishing crews in even the most remote places where in the past such a find might simply have been discarded as waste.
There is a LOT of volume in the oceans, and we're far from understanding it in the kind of depth we one day will.
The problem with quotes on the internet, is that nobody bothers to check their veracity. -- Abraham Lincoln
doesnt it give you johnsons ?
dont discriminate against johnsons.
Read radical news here
I expected it to flip out and start destroying shit.
we have NO idea what kind of role do these squits play in ecosystem of the world.
i said world. if you noticed, these squids are in every ocean of the world. apparently they are a common species.
that makes their situation more integral to world ecosystem.
Read radical news here
With a camera?
You just got troll'd!
Sorry, it was all I could think of. :P
in the matrix.
In other news, Cthulhu ask us if we could go drilling for Oil at another place rather than at Rlyeh, because He would rather like to be left alone slumbering in peace, thank you very much.
All this noise gives Him maddening head aches....
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
to me it looks like a squid which just ate a rather large king crab. either that or it really is an alien searching for oil. Thats my story and I'm sticking to it.
If it were anything else...
But if we keep polluting, these fantastic creatures will die and their corpses will float to the surface! Surely this is a much more efficient method than poking a camera into the ocean and hoping it sees something!
On a more serious note, if we weren't drilling for oil under the sea we'd never know about this squid in the first place...
I was thinking about frying it in oil to make a new type of Calamari.
Next time it'll be a squid Sean Penn, and he'll kick your deep sea paparazzi ass, then you'll be sorry!
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
Truly awesome video and a truly awesome creature visible for the first time. Awesome might even be a bit understated.
But, the manner in which it was discovered? As ordinary as dirt. Face it ... imperial expansion, military exercises and exploration of the furthest corners of the earth, and beyond, and below, are all pretty much the province of the miner, the soldier, the geologist, the imperialist paying those salaries. There is nothing new about how this was found ... it's how EVERYTHING is found. The hunter finds the range and extent of the animals in the local area. The mapping of America was done by fur traders and those seeking treasure. You could go on and on.
There are those who oppose commercial enterprise, who oppose war and the exercises that preparation for war entail, who find man is essentially unkind to both man and the world he lives in. But, they learn from the adventures and the wallets of the "Bad Man".
That Shell released this video is hardly a surprise. Our entire knowledge of the world around us is essentially paid for by those like Shell Oil and those who came before them. Shell Oil is as interested in advancing our knowledge as anyone; perhaps more so because they intend to live in this world where this particular creature was found.
To imply evil intent is really off base ... they have plenty of opportunity to be evil the markets, on Capital Hill, at the UN, or the WTO. Note that few endangered species are likely to be found in those places, that is the environment of man, and is also the place where you are most likely to encounter the environmentalist, PETA, and the like.
They don't go a mile or more under the ocean's surface ... Shell Oil does, though.
I have never met anyone who works in the field for companies like Shell who is not far more aware of the world around them than those who occupy the cities and rail against the destruction of our environment. They have tremendous respect for the environment and the absolute wonder of the world we live in. Those who sit at their computers or write letters about banning plastic bags have no concept of the outdoors, usually. In fact, they rarely go about exploring the very city they live in.
Houston isn't on the coast. It's 50 miles from the coast at Galveston, which leaves two questions:
1) Was the squid found 150 miles off the coast at Galveston, or 200 miles?
2) Are there no longer any geographers working at National Geographic?
Score: 1 (pedantic+)
is that the same anatomies keep getting reinvented for various reasons: environment, food source, etc.
so you have dolphins mimicking the body plans of fish
you have bats mimicking the body plans of birds
you have the herds of grazers during the dinosaur age and the predators who track them, and you have the herds of grazers in our age and the predators who track them
the same bodyplans and anatomical features and feeding strategies keep getting reinvented
and here, you have a squid, who has evolved to live like a jellyfish
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Eight-armed appendages.
Two titanium-hard beaks with paralyzing neuropoisons.
Crushes any and all protection you have.
Partially digests your flesh while it's still on you, then sucks it in!
Coming next Summer to the screen near you.
Off the coast of _Houston_? Hurricane Ike didn't take out everything between Houston and Galveston!
where is a Sperm Whale when you need one ?
Its not the years, its the mileage
that god/ evolution/ the fsm has a sense of humor
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Disgusting creature. Seriously, why does sea critters have to be so gross? Didn't their mother teach them that it's impolite?
Flat out disgusting. I hope it died from contamination.
There are many scientists that are not too keen to change their world view in the face of evidence. It's healthy scepticism.
There are always people who find themselves randomly on one side or another of an issue that isn't clear. A rare few will actually find the truth, whatever side it's on.
So the researchers would have had squat and in this case, it would have been elbowed squat. Or not.
It's not the oil companies that are evil. These creatures are the ones that really control the world's oil market.
Claiming to be pedantic on Slashdot is asking for trouble
Maybe in the California suburbs, oil rigs are giant monstrosities that destroy all life as we know it, but down in communities near the Louisiana and Texas coasts, oil rigs are artificial reefs that put to shame every other attempt by man to create such a structure. When offshore fishing guides discuss where they're going to find their fish, they use the oil platforms to describe the location because that's where the fish are.
Not only that, but many old rigs can be knocked over after they've finished their life cycle to have permanent aquatic reefs. Good for the environment, good for the oil companies. This doesn't always have to be a religious issue.
I would have been zoomed out while panning so yes, I would have done considerably better.
An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
Will it blend?
And to think, there was a 'big-bang' and then a whole lot of time and then this! Somewhat that theory is too incredible to be believable.
Yes, of course you would have. Naturally. Without question.
I bet you'd disagree if I called you an arrogant twit too?
See interesting creatures - and kill them.
Shit, that is creepy.
Anyone else have the desire to play some Metal Slug after watching that video?
This gives credence to the theory that aliens are right on Earth, living under water, disguised as giant elbowed squids. SETI is wasting time scanning the skies. Now, we only need to find the MIBs...
If you don't succeed at first, try again. If you still don't succeed, try harder. If nothing works, try reality shows.
I thought the camera's movement spoke volumes.
To me it said "Whoa WTF was that (doubletake)"
It's the swimming spaghetti monster, with his extra-soaked noodly appendages...
Reminds me of the movie The Abyss. Cool!
"During My Service In The United States Congress, I Took The Initiative In Creating The Internet." -Al Gore
Yes, because I'm sure that the oil companies are only using barely trained idiots to operate their multi million dollar ROVs for their exploration of oil worth billions.
Seriously, WTF? Do you think they spend all that money on oil exploration only to have some tool operating the ROV who doesn't know how it works?
If you knew the squid was going to be there and rehearsed it, you might have gotten a better shot. If you were operating the ROV in real time and saw this thing, your odds of doing better are pretty slim.
Cheers
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Thank god it was taped by a robot. Nobody got insane this time.
-- dnl
That is not dead which eternal lie, and with strange aeons, even death may die.
-- dnl
Did anybody else notice that the video is from November 2007?
I suggest you spend some time learning about the limitations of designing, building, and operating equipment with the enormous pressure of water at those depths. As an example, the physical properties of the metal shackles holding the rig to the ocean floor changed because of the pressure. How well do you think fragile electronic equipment holds up under those conditions?
Look in the mirror to find the @$$.
Every mans' island needs an ocean; choose your ocean carefully.
No, you would not. This is a Remotely Operated Vehicle. The endpoint of the control is not less than 4000 feet away -- straight down. The camera is not anything like a camera you hold in your hand. The camera is specifically designed for deep water use; and not for taking live action sweeps. The water at that depth is close to freezing, there are currents, and there is immense pressure.
Videography is not limited to just the narrow uses to which you are acquainted.
Every mans' island needs an ocean; choose your ocean carefully.
you aren't supposed to like it
i believe everything you wrote above, i believe just as you believe
but the difference between you and i is that i accept these observations of truth with shame and grief, i don't trumpet it as wonderful
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
"but otherwise, deep sea drilling hasn't contributed much to our scientific understanding of this species."
Really?
And just exactly how the fuck would you know that? Are you some secret marine biologist squid expert that has intimate working knowledge of EVERY facet of oil exploration/squid research?
No, you're not.
You're some fucking kid running his mouth about something he's only able to speculate on, pandering to the bias of the audience.
But you have NO FUCKING IDEA how much oil exploration has contributed to squid research, so stop lying with pathetic statements like "otherwise, deep sea drilling hasn't contributed much to our scientific understanding of this species" that you can't possibly know to be true.
"The government grants you rights, not the other way around."-- beav007. Yes, these people really exist...
Too bad Shell doesn't employ junior college dropouts(at least for the important jobs...)- otherwise you'd be able to show them a thing or two about "zooming out while panning."
^_^
Can we get an FSM tag on this? :)
...
You're presuming that their controller/software allows for controlling multiple servos in the camera assembly. Not all camera controllers support sending more than one control code concurrently.
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
No, these cameras do not have 'fine' control. They aren't designed for following something.
No, you would have been lucky to do as well.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Actually, R'Lyeh is supposed to be somewhere in the Pacific ocean: Source. Also, according to the article summary at least, they were checking for potential sources somewhere off the coast of Houston, TX, which would mean the Gulf of Mexico, attached to the Atlantic. This was likely nothing more than a star-spawn.
in girum imus nocte et consumimur igni
Astronauts discover squid-like aliens with elbows..
Welcome Squid Overlords!
damn nature, you scary!
I dunno, I think the camerawork actually adds to it. The person operating it clearly, genuinely couldn't quite believe what they were seeing.
Why should I care what the camera is made of?
If you get a unique opportunity to film something, don't fuck it keep the dam thing in frame.
It's no different that the amateurs who shake cameras while walking with them.
An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
"Got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning, did we?"
NO, I just hate the menagerie of stupid fucks that make declarations like that idiot did, while the audience KNOWS he's talking out of his ass but approves anyway because he's pandering to their biases.
"I vote your post Rant of the Week, and as a bonus, your sig gets the Bad Taste Sig of the Month Award. "
Who cares? I certainly don't give a fuck about your opinion, so why did you share it with someone you know would only enjoy how much it pisses your loser ass off?
Fuck off now, thanks.
"The government grants you rights, not the other way around."-- beav007. Yes, these people really exist...