Scientist capture a rare giant squid on camera!

The first ever video of a giant squid was captured in U.S. waters. That alone is big news, but the story of how the video was captured is almost just as exciting.

The video was captured by a team of researchers. Their trip was funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). They were studying the effects of low light on deep sea creatures who live in the "midnight zone." That's about 3,280 feet below the surface.

Giant squid are famous at being almost impossible to find. To capture the historic image, the 23-person crew had to use a special underwater probe, a device that gathers information. They also had to get lucky enough to lure the squid to a camera. Then they had to find it among many hours of video footage. And the downloaded video had to survive a sudden lightning strike to the metal ship.

A Tornado At Sea
On top of everything else, a water spout formed suddenly near the ship. It's kind of like a tornado at sea.

Edith Widder, one of the leaders of the expedition, said it was an "amazing" experience.

Widder founded the Ocean Research & Conservation Association. She told the story of these events on June 23.

Scientists had used a special camera system developed by Widder. It's called the Medusa. It uses red light that deep sea creatures can't see. This has allowed scientists to discover new species and observe other hard-to-spot ones.

Luring Squid And Other Animals Toward Camera
The probe had a fake jellyfish that copied their bioluminescence, or glow. This shiny flicker can signal to larger predators that a meal may be nearby. It could lure the squid and other animals toward the camera.

Finally, 100 miles southeast of New Orleans, Lousiana, a giant squid took the bait.

The week prior, on June 19, a storm was raging nearby. Widder was in the ship's kitchen area. Suddenly, her teammate Nathan J. Robinson came barging in.

"His eyes were just about popping out of his head," said Widder. "I knew immediately he had seen something amazing on the video.

"We were all yelling, and other people start running into the lab and we're trying hard not to get excited," she said. It was difficult not to get excited about what they saw in the video, though. It sure looked like a giant squid.

Lightning Strikes Ship
And then, Widder heard a loud boom. She ran outside to see yellow and brown smoke. Lightning had struck the ship. Rubble was everywhere on the ship's deck. The team immediately feared for the computers carrying the precious video footage.

The video, thankfully, had survived.

A couple of hours later, she said, their captain said that a water spout was forming nearby.

Somehow, in the end, it was all fine. A scientist soon confirmed remotely that they had indeed captured images of the giant squid. The researchers estimated it was at least 10 to 12 feet long.

Even without these dangers, filming a giant squid in its natural habitat is extremely difficult. In fact, nobody had managed it until 2012. Widder and her team captured video of one near Japan for the first time ever.

Historically, much of what scientists knew came from dead squid that had washed up on shore. Some had been found in the bellies of sperm whales, Smithsonian Magazine reported.

Huge Size, Alien Features
Their huge size, alien features, and rare quality have earned the giant squid a legendary standing among marine life.

"It's got eight writhing arms and two slashing tentacles," Widder said. "It has the largest eye of any animal we know of, it's got a beak that can rip flesh. It has a jet propulsion system that can go backward and forward, blue blood, and three hearts. It's an amazing, amazing life form we know almost nothing about."

The legendary Kraken monster was based on the giant squid. Jules Verne's book "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea" also made it a monster. The giant squid also appeared in Herman Melville's "Moby Dick."

Widder and her co-scientists hope that discoveries like theirs will excite the public. They want it to help spark support for oceanic research.