By Reem Benadada
From the novel, 20000 Leagues Under the Sea to The Pirates of the Caribbean, the legend of the Kraken has been mentioned in some of society's most treasured tales. Said to be the length of 10 ships, the Kraken is a monstrous squid originating from Scandinavian folklore. While being nothing more than a fictional creature to science, there's something else that comes close to the extraordinary Kraken that falls under the term “reality”.
It’s called the colossal squid. It might be hard to believe such a sea animal really exists outside of the stories, but the 14 meter squid can be rarely found 1000 meters deep in the waters of the Southern Ocean near Antarctica. With the first sighting in 1925, it's only been found a few times after, the last in 1981. Never filmed in its natural habitat, a team of graduates from Memorial University's Marine Institute in Newfoundland are on the journey to becoming the first to capture videos.
The only way to see a real one now would be in Te Papa, a museum in New Zealand, however, it isn't preserving well there. With less than 10% of the ocean being discovered, what a huge step it would be in marine discovery and history for a team of Canadian scientists to film this remarkable sea creature in its natural state.
The expedition comes after almost 7 years of planning, but hopefully the results will be worthwhile and harmless for all involved.