Waves

The strange creature appeared to be half walking half flying towards me through the water...

Artist unknown

Sunday saw my first cold-water dive to the maximum depth I am currently qualified to do (20m). The visibility was quite poor at 2-3 metres and any unnecessary movement with the legs, kicked up silt that obscured the person next to you. I can honestly say that I was a little nervous, and occupied my mind with the intricacies of varied life that was abundant on the reef at this depth. The dive site was Loch Creran, a specific area of conservation (SAC) between Oban and Appin on the West coast of Scotland.

Squid and octopuses have eight legs and both belong to the molluscan group Cephalopoda, which literally means "head footed”.

Photographer unknown. Image taken from the article text 'Envisat fishes up facts behind Chilean giant squid invasion' March 2004, by the European Space Agency and is for my own research purposes only.

The large deepsea squid shown above triggered its own photograph on a special undersea camera used by Antartic Division scientists during their last expedition to Heard Island, and mimics the movements of the true Giant Squid which was photographed for the first time recently by Japanese scientists. Hobart-based Liz Turner, Curator of Invertebrate Zoology at the Tasmanian Museum in Hobart, Rosny Collections and Research Facility, says “For the world to be able to see the photographs of a live Giant Squid is a huge leap in the quest for knowledge about these gargantuans of the oceans”.

Photograph by Brian J Skerry. Sourced from National Geographic for my own research purposes only.