A distinguished marine biologist writes - very well

The distinguished marine biologist is called Trevor Norton and the book is called Under Water to get out of the Rain. I shall just write extracts from his book in order to share it.

Here is a history of the giant squid:

As more specimens appeared a new species was established, the giant squid. The kraken was now authenticated and larger ones would come to light, but very few would be caught alive and none have yet been seen underwater, for with the biggest eye in the animal kingdom and the ability to jet around at ten feet per second, giant squid can easily evade anything that approaches and arouses its suspicion.

In 1938 a scientist with the Min of Agriculture and Fisheries examined the carcasses on a whaling ship and reported that  'nearly all the sperm whales carry scars caused by the suckers.... of large squids, scars up to ten centimeters in diameter being common'. Suckers of this size indicate an animal with a body perhaps thirty feet long and arms almost twice. One species of shark feeds almost entirely on Mesonychoteuthis (colossal squid). The dimensions of a recently caught juvenile colossal squid indicate that a full-grown adult probably reaches fifty feet in length. 

He concludes this passage with his certainty that there are still some large species in the sea that have not yet been discovered.

You can see links to discoveries here: Great website with fascinating sea news

However, the fun bits of the book are about Trevor's own experiences as a marine biologist. He is not that much older than me, but he can remember when conditions on the coast and at sea were very different. More soon.