Giant squid have no trouble playing “I spy”
03/16/2012
How big are the eyes of the world’s largest squid? Try bigger than a regulation NBA basketball.
Despite their size, the eyes of colossal and giant squid, which can measure up to 11 inches across, don’t see particularly well, however.
In fact, they offer just one advantage: they can spot enormous shapes – such as those of their arch-foe, the sperm whale, according to the BBC.
Think of it as a cephalopod early warning system.
Scientists found that the huge eyes, two to three times bigger than any other animal’s, offer no advantages in the murky ocean depths other than making it easier to spot enormous shapes – such as sperm whales.
Scientist Dan Nilsson from Lund University in Sweden was on hand for the dissection of a colossal squid four years ago in New Zealand.
He was able to examine and handle the eyes – in particular, the hard parts of the lens.
