They say that surfing is one of the most exhilarating activities one could ever be blessed with doing. Well, the waves, the ocean breeze, and the gorgeous sun is a combination nothing can compare to. Admit it, we have all imagined and daydreamed about riding waves and getting on a surfboard. There is another thing that makes surfing one of the most entertaining sports ever. You might catch a few fishes or sea creatures while at it. James Taylor encountered something while riding the waves that changed his whole perception of the aquatic life.
So you never know what kind of a day, spending time at the ocean would be like. There are so many possibilities that await you in the ocean. After all, water covers 70% of the world, right? Well for this man named James Taylor, who is a surfer aged 39, it was like any other day. He was busy surfing but on this particular day in Melkbosstrand, South Africa. He was paddle surfing his day away and did not think much of it until this.
Just like him, he had a wife who was well into water sports too. His wife loves spending time and surfing in the ocean waves just as much as Taylor enjoys it. So this random day, he was just paddling around with his darling wife, Christina, minding their own business until they saw something weird lurking in the ocean water. Since he was not prepared for any kind of an out-of-the-ordinary experience, he was completely shaken up by what he saw that day.
We never know what we could discover in the ocean because we as humans have not even uncovered most of what lies under the depths of the ocean bodies. Who knows what kind of fish or living creates stay under the deep trenches of the oceans. So on that day what did Taylor discover? Well, it turns out, the peculiar thing that the couple saw in the water was actually a giant squid! The huge squid appeared to be injured as well and Taylor knew he had to do something to help.
It would be confusing to see something as random as an injured squid out of the blue in the water. And indeed Taylor was very shocked to see such a thing. Since the squid was suffering from some injuries, it needed to be helped immediately. Taylor tried his best and did whatever he thought was best at the spur of the moment. He made a lasso out of a rope and tied to squid to pull it out of the water. The squid was, however, not cooperating and it had intentions of its own.
We can never tell what sea creatures are thinking, so Taylor could not get an idea of what the squid was trying to do. The squid, in place of making its move towards the rope, decided that it was wiser to do something completely different. The squid made a completely different move, using its tentacles to grab onto Taylor’s board. From this, it was clear that the squid was just trying to get a very comfortable ride and not have to muscle up too much energy itself.
Not only are the sea creatures in the ocean unpredictable, even the waves can leave you quite surprised. So just like that, a sudden giant wave hit Taylor’s board. This caused him to fall off in the clutches of the rolling water. The squid took an even tighter hold onto the surfer's board. After this, the video clip fasts forwards to the couple, James and his wife right there on the shore. The couple wanted people to see what took place in the sea that day.
For those wondering what took place during all the haphazard time at the sea, sorry to leave you disappointed. James never disclosed what actually went down with the squid after all of that effort he gave. But very recently he decided to upload a video to his Instagram account that made people want to see what he shared. People definitely curious to see what this surfer was about to share with them as they presumed he had a few secrets to tell.
When he uploaded the clip, he made sure he wrote something for the caption. What was it then? Well, James wrote: “Spotted an injured giant squid just behind the waves in Melkboss a while back and decided to try and get it to the beach.” The big question is how did James have the time or was ready with a camera if all the things that took place with the giant squid was a surprise? How can you be so prepared when faced with a surprise like this?
It turns out, James actually has a very big reason for carrying the camera during his 'surprise encounter'. In fact, he is actually the co-founder of FanCam. What is FanCam? It is a company that aims to produce a high-resolution photo in a unique way. The clear photo would be a result of piecing together 100s of high-resolution photos to create an even bigger picture. So you may be confused by all of this and might even be asking what this all means...
Actually, FanCam is a very impressive invention. The pictures that have been created using a FancCam would actually be so large that it would be enough to identify a single person at a stadium event. Isn't that great or what? So we can say that Taylor is not really an amateur when it comes to working with cameras. it was actually just fate that decided to let him meet a giant injured squid that particular day and nothing else or nothing much. There is nothing to speculate about much.
Like we have mentioned in the previous slide, there were a lot of people who anticipated what Taylor was about to share on his Instagram. The video that he uploaded about the squid encounter actually raked up a lot of attention plus a ton of buzz. There were thousands of people who wanted to see the giant squid up close and so the video became a viral hit. The video of James and the squid has actually received about 60,000views on his account on the popular app.
Since the video was viewed by thousands of people, there were obviously many people who went in to comment on it as well. After so many of Instagram users freaked out looking at the clip of the giant squid, many of them decided to leave a comment on Taylor's video post. There were a lot of people who criticized his intentions about getting the injured giant squid to the shore. The video caused a lot of people to voice their opinions that obviously left room for a few arguments too.
There were a lot of people who felt like it would not have been best to take the squid all the way to the shore. One of the more concerned people who left a comment on the post even said: “Why would you take it to the beach? Because you guessed it was hurt, you get to decide it gets to die?” However, not all of the comments that the video got were of a negative tone. A lot of the viewers were actually enjoying looking at James handle the giant squid in the water.
It is actually very rare for one to be able to have an encounter with a giant squid. It had remained a very mysterious living creature that no one really knows about for many years. Scientists did not have much knowledge regarding this aquatic animal and it was not until recently that they got to learn a bit more about this sea animal. The only way for a scientist to learn about these rare creatures is only if they turn up out of nowhere like this or their dead bodies get washed ashore by strong waves.
One good thing to note is that the giant squid is the biggest of all known squid species. Where do they stay and why are they so rarely seen? Well, these squids mostly reside in very deep cold water. Hence they do not really come out of the deeper levels of the sea. Since scientists cannot go too deep under the water due to the temperature and pressure, these squids have remained a big mystery and very little is known till date about them. However, giant squid spottings have been reported all over the world.
There have been reports of discoveries of these giant squids in the Northern region of the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, Sea of Japan, Hawaii, and California. Although they are seen everywhere, it does not happen too regularly and just a handful of them have been discovered even till now. These squids still hold up as elusive animals and although their sightings have proven to be international, very little is known about them and scientists are yet to discover some more answers.
Since there were so many people who left comments on the Instagram video that he posted, Taylor felt the need to answer their questions. He eventually gave answers to the people that have been asking him loads of questions. He made a revelation about the fate of the squid, whether it ended up surviving or not and put a rest to many viewers' concerns. “I actually cut its head off when I got it to the beach to make sure it did not suffer any more than it already had,” Taylor revealed.
Well, you may be very shocked upon hearing what Taylor decided to so. But, actually, he knew exactly what he was doing and he continued to give an explanation about the whole incident to everyone: “I also saved the beak which I gave to a professor here in Cape Town that has been studying them for 15 years. The most probable cause of the bad state he was in was an injury during mating.”
Taylor also revealed to his followers that most female squids tend to grow way bigger than male squids. Shocking right? So it turns out, during mating season, the males are in a high probability of getting serious injury or death because the females would attack them as a means of self-defense. In his defense, Taylor believes that the squid did not deserve to go through any more pain so he ended up taking care of it the best way he knew how to.
You can say that he had no right to end the life of the squid like that. However, you have to admit that Taylor's heart was in the right place even though he ended up doing what he did. His intentions were for the benefit of the giant squid. With the help of his video clip, many people got to see the real size that squids get to grow to and boy are they huge. It would be a once in a lifetime experience for Taylor and his wife that we are sure they would never forget.
Speaking of mysteries that lurk in the depths of the sea, here are some of the most unbelievable things that have occurred in the ocean waters, prepare to be amazed!
So there are tons of things waiting to be discovered under the sea. With the advancement of technology, we are slowly able to uncover the secrets that the ocean has hidden from us all of these years. Among them, one of the most shocking discoveries would definitely be this one. In the middle of Lake Michigan, there has been a discovery of an aquatic Stonehenge. No one is there to answer why this was here and there is no explanation as to why how it got here.
So another very bizarre finding be this next one. Just by looking at the photo you can get a sense of how eerie and out-of-place it is to find these sculptures under water. This was actually found just off the coast of Cancun, Mexico. This weird discovery is a sculpture park that one has to dive very deep into the Caribbean Sea, to be able to witness. Only the people courageous enough to dive under the sea get to see all of the 500 statues that have been found here.
Well, this next discovery is one that would definitely remind you of, namely, Atlantis. But actually, this is not actually the lost city of Atlantis. Imagine how thrilling it must have been for the person who discovered this place? This is, in fact, an underwater city that was found deep in China's Qiandao Lake. It was fairly recent that this city took the plunge. The lake in which it sits in is a work of a construction company which pretty much explains all this.
If you want shocking discoveries, this one would definitely blow your mind. Did you ever think in your wildest imagination that spiders would ever live underwater? Well, we are here to tell you that this was actually found to happen in real life. Yep, you heard us right. A discovery was made about a species of spiders that can actually survive in the water. Some species are known to make air pockets on their webs so they are able to breathe when they stay under water.
There are some very extreme people that live on this earth. Some turn out to be the leaders of countries that end up doing what some consider ridiculous. We don't know about you guys but this next event that took place underwater is downright absurd in the most amazing manner. President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives wanted to create some attention and he sure made an impact. He called for an underwater cabinet meeting to discuss climate change and its effect under the ocean.
It seems as though nothing is completely undiscoverable when it comes to finding stuff under the sea. Take for instance this very strange object found back in the year 1985. Who would have ever thought that steam locomotives from the 1850s would get uncovered? This was found at the bottom of the ocean. There is no one who can clarify the reasons for the locomotive to end up there, but one thing for sure is that it is truly weird.
Well, we all know that the deep ocean had swallowed up a lot of things in history. One of the most impressive things that an archaeologist could ever discover would have to be this next one on our list. Imagine working as an archeologist, diving under the deep trenches of the sea to discover something as majestic as the Yonaguni Monument. This gigantic monument was actually discovered on the ocean floor off the coast of Japan. It has been claimed to be about 5000 years old.
This next discovery is definitely something that would make you scratch your head. Anyone who had ever heard or read about this would be tilting their head at the screen questioning if it is actually for real or not. There was a discovery made where underwater rivers had been found. Yes, you read that right, there are actually strange currents that form when salt water and fresh water mix together. Such a weird finding right? You would almost think this was made up.
In the past, there had been a lot of things that were left under the sea. Humans have left a lot of historically important things under water. It would not be wrong to say that the if all the things that lie under the sea could be uncovered, the human race would be tremendously informed about this place we live in called the earth. An Apollo 11 engine had been found in the Atlantic Ocean after Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos financed a team to go and look for it underwater.
There are a lot more shocking and unexpected discoveries that have been made under the ocean. Take for instance this World War II-era silver. This was actually discovered by researchers that were just wandering about and doing some exploring off the coast of Ireland. They managed to find about 61 tons of precious metal that were kept inside the ruins of a British cargo ship.
We all know that sinkholes are very dangerous and troublesome. They are known to cause havoc and immense trouble with traffic. These sinkholes are bad enough for the people living on land, but you would be shocked to find out that they actually exist on the ocean floor as well. Water, chemicals, time, and bureaucratic mismanagement are the main causes for these ginormous holes that have been found deep in the ocean beds.
We as humans love to eat seafood. It seems other animals love to eat seafood too. In fact, a specific bird species known as gannets find their prey underwater. These birds actually use a fairly strange tactic to get to their prey, they dive under the water. Well, you can argue and say that many birds dive into the water to catch fish, but hod your horses because these birds are exceptional. These fishermen birds have been reported to dive as deep as 100 feet under the sea to catch their prey.