Before the 1800’s, the giant squid was a legend. A Japanese scientist took a picture of the first living giant squid. This inspired countless sea monster tales and a variety of scientific expeditions. 
Semur Alecton discovered a giant squid in 1861. He spotted something strange in the ocean that looked like a sea monster. 
On November 2, 1878 the largest giant squid was found. Three fishermen were working close to the shore when they saw something floating, which looked like wreckage. They found a giant squid that had washed up on shore. They tied there anchor to a tree, so when the tide went out, the squid was left dry.        
In 1888, a giant squid, 57 feet long washed up on a beach in New Zealand. It had tentacles 35 feet long and its eyes were 45 centimeters wide. They’re the largest eyes in the animal kingdom. When the giant squid died, the fishermen measured it and chopped it up for dog meat. The squid measured 20 feet from tail to beak. The longer tentacles measured 35 feet. Each sucker was 4 inches.
In 1965, a whaler watched a fight between a giant squid and a 40-ton sperm whale. The strangled whale was found floating in the sea with the squid’s tentacles wrapped around the whale’s throat. The head of the squid was found in the stomach of the whale.
In October 1966, 2 lighthouse keepers saw a baby whale under attack by a giant squid. For an hour and a half, the squid hung on to the baby trying to strangle it. Finally, the giant squid won and the whale was never seen again.