WHALE VS. SQUID
Is it the fight we'll never see?
When I was a kid, there was a show on TV called You Asked for It. The premise was simple—take ideas from the public to film. Suggestions often involved famous people or “inside” stories, such as taking a look into the vault at Fort Knox.
I suggested a battle between a sperm whale and giant squid. Needless to say, technology hadn’t arrived at that point to make such a thing possible. Sea Hunt, with Lloyd Bridges filmed in glorious black and white, was as far as 50s television came to deep-sea exploration.
Such a confrontation could only take place in ocean depths humans can barely comprehend. I don’t know that we even have the means to capture such a struggle now.
Recently, I came across a book in the library that took me back to that childhood request. It was one of the Who Would Win? series, Scholastic books for young adults that pit one animal against another: lion versus tiger, hornet versus wasp, etc.
There it was: whale vs. giant squid. The whale in question could only be a sperm whale, no stranger to the human scene. Millions were slaughtered for oil in the 1700s and 1800s, and were all but wiped out in the 20th century. Noticed along the way was that some whales bore sucker imprints and nasty scratches, evidence of engagements with the giant squid.
Before we get to the book’s decision regarding the main event, the 32-page book (author, Jerry Pallotta; artist, Rob Bolster) provides information on the contestants. The sperm whale can reach 60 feet in length and weigh up to 50 tons. It uses an echolocation system to find its prey just as bats do. The giant squid can also reach 60 feet, but much of that length is in its tentacles. Its weight can reach 450 pounds. Sperm whales can hold their breath for up to two hours. Squid, on the other hand, don’t need to come up for air.
While the whale is well known, having been hunted for centuries, the squid is shrouded in mystery. We don’t know how many there are or how deep they can descend. No one has ever caught one alive.
Spoiler alert: the book says the whale would win, but not without a brutal struggle. I asked for it, but I’m still waiting for the video.