You Could Shoot Hoops With Giant Squid Eyes

Scientists have discovered giant squids eyes are the largest in the animal kingdom and those big eyes help keep them alive.

(Image Source: Discover Magazine )   BY EMILY ALLEN   Jeepers, creepers!  Swedish scientists have discovered the world’s biggest peepers.  It turns out giant and colossal squid take the cake with eyes the size of basketballs.   The Daily Mail reports giant squid can be as large as 27 and a half feet long and weigh a ton.  Still, their eyes are way too big for their bodies. A big swordfish and giant squid are similar in size, but the squid’s eyes are 27 times bigger. Scientists figured out that giant and colossal squid have the biggest eyes in the animal kingdom.  But the squid is difficult to track and study.  Live Science said it was a big step when scientists caught a glimpse of this creature on camera.   Scientists studied dead giant squids that washed up on shores or got caught in nets.  But apparently the animal’s eyes distort once they die so it didn’t provide an accurate measurement. To get around this problem, The Epoch Times said an international team of researchers created a mathematical model to figure out how far aquatic animals can see underwater.   It turns out, the ideal size of an eye for underwater vision isn’t much bigger than an orange – which is a lot smaller than a basketball! But Discover Magazine points out these big eyes do serve a purpose, headlining....   “Giant squid, what big eyes you have.  All the better to spot sperm whales with my dear.” And that’s important because sperm whales eat giant squid.  But the squid camp out at the bottom of the ocean where there is no light so you wonder how they even see the sperm whales. Science Codex reports small creatures like jellyfish give off light when sperm whales bump into them.  And that twinkling glow is enough to alert the squid, thanks to their large orbs.   Scientific American notes sperm whales don’t need big eyes to spot the squid.  They have something that works even better to see in the dark – sonar.