~ Historical Background ~

As the millenium nears its end and we approach on knowing all living species of mammals and birds on this planet, it becomes more difficult to picture a time, not so long ago, when people imagined fabulous fictional creatures living on Earth. Sirens and mermen, leviathans, monsters, serpents and kraken, animals that breach the boundaries between the major groups of organisms. Men with fish scales and tales, birds with reptilian teeth, animals from the deep and dark places on Earth. Born in the minds of people, and spread through myth and folklore, these animals captured the imagination and grew with the re-telling of their existence.

One of these imagined creatures, the kraken, was based on a real sea animal, one of immense proportions, equipped with terrible grasping arms, thousands of suckers, sharp, powerful jaws, and glaring eyes the size of Frisbees. Krake, or more commonly, kraken is a Norwegian word meaning "fabulous sea monsters." Bishop Erik Pontoppidan (1755) was the first to publish the term in his 18th century account of the Natural History of Norway. He used krake to describe a very large sea-snake seen passing a ship off the coast of Norway sometime in August 1746. In fact, the North Atlantic Ocean has coughed up a good number of giant squid over the centuries, though now we know they are not serpents or monsters, just squid. Sea serpent, sea monster and krake(n) all share with giant squid a long serpentine form. Sea serpent bodies are the same shape as giant squid arms and tentacles. At 10 meters or more, a single tentacle could very well look like a serpent or monster.

Today we call squid, octopus, cuttlefish, and chambered nautilus cephalopods. All families of squid are known as teuthids. And we refer to giant teuthids as Architeuthis, which we might take in everyday language to mean primo, number one, head chief, or boss. Taken literally, Architeuthis means "first squid over all other squid," or "ruling squid." People who study the teuthids are teuthologists. Dr. Clyde Roper is a teuthologist.