is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

with the

National Museum of Nature and Science The is in the northeast corner of Ueno Park in Tokyo. The museum has exhibitions on pre-Meiji period, Meiji science in Japan. It is the venue of the taxidermied bodies of the legendary dogs Hachikō and Taro and Jiro. A life-size blue whale mode ...

. On September 30, 2004, Kubodera and his team became the first people to ''photograph'' a live

giant squid The giant squid (''Architeuthis dux'') is a species of deep-ocean dwelling squid in the family Architeuthidae. It can grow to a tremendous size, offering an example of abyssal gigantism: recent estimates put the maximum size at around Trace ...

in its natural habitat.Kubodera, T. & K. Mori 2005
First-ever observations of a live giant squid in the wild.
''Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences'', 272(1581):2583-2586. Two years later, on December 4, 2006, he also managed to successfully ''film'' a live adult giant squid for the first time ever. On July 10, 2012, Kubodera, together with

Steve O'Shea Steve O'Shea (born 14 December 1965 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a marine biologist and environmentalist known for his research on giant squid. O'Shea obtained his degrees from Auckland university. He undertook a Bachelor of Science between 1984 ...

and

Edith Widder Edith Anne "Edie" Widder Smith (born 1951) is an American oceanographer, marine biologist, author and the Co-founder, CEO and Senior Scientist at the Ocean Research & Conservation Association. Books * The Bioluminescence Coloring Book Below ...

, became the first to ''film'' a live giant squid ''in its natural habitat'' from a submersible off the

Bonin Islands The Bonin Islands, also known as the , are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands, some directly south of Tokyo, Japan and northwest of Guam. The name "Bonin Islands" comes from the Japanese word ''bunin'' (an archaic readi ...

. In addition to these firsts involving the giant squid, in 2005, Kubodera also became the first to film the

Dana octopus squid ''Taningia danae'', the Dana octopus squid, is a species of squid in the family Octopoteuthidae. It is one of the largest known squid species, reaching a mantle length of and total length of . The largest known specimen, a mature female, weig ...

(''Taningia danae'') in its natural habitat.

Finding the giant squid

With his partner

Kyoichi Mori Kyoichi Mori (Japanese: 森恭一 ''Mori Kyoichi'') is a Japanese whale watcher who assisted Tsunemi Kubodera in taking the first photographs of a living giant squid in its natural habitat. He is a member of the Ogasawara Whale Watching Associatio ...

of the

Ogasawara Whale Watching Association The Ogasawara Whale Watching Association is an association that regulates whale watching in the Ogasawara Islands. Since 1989 the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association has been conducting research on and educating people about whales. The Ogasawara ...

, Kubodera captured photos of the elusive giant squid with his special cameras, after three years of attempts. Relying on the paths of

sperm whale The sperm whale or cachalot (''Physeter macrocephalus'') is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the genus ''Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the sperm whale famil ...

s, the pair found suitable location to deploy their equipment. The cameras, which were able to store 600 photos, were programmed to flash and take a picture every 30 seconds. Tsunemi's hope was that one of these pictures would contain a photograph of the giant squid. The camera was mounted on a line that used two hooks. To this line Kubodera attached two cuttlefish as bait. The line was then lowered to . A giant squid came by, took the bait, and got caught on one of the hook traps. The squid spent 4 hours and 13 minutes trying to get free before severing one of its tentacles and fleeing. The tentacle was still moving when the camera was hauled up.Live giant squid caught on camera
/ref> The resulting photographs have helped scientists dramatically improve their understanding of giant squid behavior. For example, the squid showed a more aggressive hunting style than scientists had expected.

In media

Kubodera had a segment on the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

's special program about the giant squid.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kubodera, Tsunemi Japanese zoologists Teuthologists 1951 births People from Nakano, Tokyo Living people