Are Sea Monsters Real?

Host: Sailors swore the sea was full of monsters.

Host: They even put them on their maps.

Host: And the biggest legend of all... the Kraken.

Archie, the giant squid: That's supposed to be ME?

Archie, the giant squid: I have never sunk anything in my life!

Sperm whale: Says you.

Host: So were the sailors making it up? Are sea monsters real?

Host: Every monster on this map gets tested. Real... or nope.

Host: And one of them really did sink a ship.

Archie, the giant squid: Not me!

Sperm whale: Back in 45 minutes.

Host: Every clue you need is on this map. Beat me to it.

Host: Suspect number one. Its story starts in the 1200s, when a Norwegian book described a beast that looked more like an island than a fish.

Host: In 1639, something real washed up on a beach in Iceland. One of the earliest giant squid on record.

Archie, the giant squid: Great Aunt Ingrid. She hated beaches.

Host: In 1753, a bishop named Erik Pontoppidan wrote down what Norway's fishermen told him about the kraken. Round, flat, and full of arms.

Archie, the giant squid: Full of arms, fine. Round? FLAT?

Host: Strong enough to pull the biggest warship to the bottom. But he also wrote that it was never known to do any great harm... except to anyone who didn't make it back to tell.

Archie, the giant squid: Oh, come ON.

Host: In 1857, a scientist gave the real animal a name. Architeuthis. Archie, for short.

Archie, the giant squid: Now THAT'S me.

Host: So. Could Archie sink a ship? Let's measure him. In sailors.

Host: The biggest giant squid reach about 13 meters. That's 7 sailors.

Host: And 4 of them are just keeping 2 long, thin feeding tentacles company.

Archie, the giant squid: Those count.

Host: A big one can weigh more than 200 kilograms. 2 and a half sailors.

Host: Now, the ship test.

Archie, the giant squid: It's... a big... boat.

Host: His eyes, though, are the biggest in the animal kingdom, along with a cousin's. About 27 centimeters across. A dinner plate.

Host: Odd, for something this shy.

Host: Nobody photographed one alive in its deep home until 2004. 900 meters down, off Japan.

Host: One grabbed the bait, got snagged, and pulled for 4 hours. The tentacle broke first.

Host: It left 5 and a half meters of tentacle behind.

Archie, the giant squid: I panicked.

Host: So the Kraken is real. Just a lot smaller than the story, and beaten by a boat.

Host: But for centuries, almost nobody saw one alive. Except the animal that hunts them.

Sperm whale: Back.

Host: Our star witness. The sperm whale.

Host: Into the whaleboat, please.

Sperm whale: No.

Host: Fine. Big males reach about 16 meters, and 45 tons. That's more than 400 sailors.

Host: His hunting dives often go 600 meters down, and last about 45 minutes. Hence the schedule.

Sperm whale: Squid. Squid. Squid. Big squid.

Host: Those rings are scars from squid suckers. A giant squid's biggest suckers are about 5 centimeters across.

Host: So what made this one?

Sperm whale: Same kind of squid. I was little.

Host: Scars stretch as a whale grows. For years, scars like that fed stories of squid far bigger than any ever found.

Archie, the giant squid: Stretch marks!

Sperm whale: Still squid.

Host: And scientists find squid beaks in sperm whale stomachs. Lots of them.

Host: One question, then. Have you ever seen anything sink a ship?

Sperm whale: ...Dive.

Host: Gone for 45 minutes. Again.

Host: While we wait: inside one sperm whale, scientists found the arms of a squid even heavier than Archie.

Colossal squid: Move.

Host: In 1925, a scientist named a new species from 2 sets of arms found in a sperm whale's stomach. The colossal squid.

Host: The heaviest one ever weighed was 495 kilograms. About twice as heavy as Archie. 5 and a half sailors.

Host: He's shorter than Archie, but he came armed: hooks on his arms, and on his tentacles, some that swivel.

Archie, the giant squid: He's heavier! Check HIM for ships!

Colossal squid: ...Banned.

Host: For about 100 years, nobody filmed one alive in its deep home. Then, in March 2025, a robot sub found one, 600 meters down.

Host: It was a baby. About 30 centimeters long.

Colossal squid: No photos.

Host: So far, every monster on this map is real, smaller than its story, and beaten by a boat. And this deep, sunlight never reaches. Almost every light comes from an animal.

Host: So whose lamp have we been using?

Anglerfish: Evening, boys. You've been reading by my light.

Host: An anglerfish. And only the females carry a lamp.

Host: In most anglerfish down here, the light comes from bacteria living inside the lure.

Host: In 1922, a scientist found a female with 2 tiny fish stuck to her belly. He thought they were her babies.

Host: In 1925, another scientist showed that fish like these were grown males. Tip for the case: look closer.

Archie, the giant squid: Is he okay?

Anglerfish: He's family now.

Host: In some anglerfish, the male bites on and fuses with her. For life. Some grown males are about 6 millimeters long.

Host: Real. She's never sunk a ship. She just flirts with them.

Anglerfish: Come out, handsome. Let's see you.

Host: Every time a light comes near, Archie hides.

Host: So why does the shyest animal on this map have the biggest eyes in the animal kingdom?

Archie, the giant squid: I'm watching for something.

Host: When something huge swims through the deep, it bumps into tiny animals that glow when they're disturbed.

Host: In 2012, scientists did the math. An eye this big is good at one job: spotting that glow, from more than 120 meters away.

Host: Maybe enough warning to escape. They think that's what those eyes are for. The glow of a hunting sperm whale.

Sperm whale: Hi.

Archie, the giant squid: Everybody calls me the monster. I have one too.

Archie, the giant squid: If I stay in the dark, that picture stays forever.

Archie, the giant squid: Somebody has to see me.

Anglerfish: Well. Look at you.

Host: And up on the surface, somebody was trying to.

Host: July 2012, off Japan. A team of scientists and filmmakers tried something new.

Host: Their camera hung 700 meters down, with a dim red light. Few deep sea animals can see red.

Archie, the giant squid: What camera?

Host: Their lure was a fake jellyfish. When a real one gets attacked, it flashes like a burglar alarm, to call in something bigger to eat the attacker.

Archie, the giant squid: Somebody's in trouble. Somebody's lunch.

Host: And a giant squid came for it.

Host: Later, a scientist, a cameraman and a pilot in a small submarine met one face to face, 630 meters down.

Host: It had lost both long tentacles. And its skin flashed silver.

Host: Then they switched on the bright lights, sure it would flee.

Host: It kept eating.

Archie, the giant squid: Honestly? This is nice.

Host: About 100 dives, to meet an animal that just wanted lunch.

Host: Archie's cleared. The case isn't.

Host: The next suspect has the biggest teeth on the map.

Host: For centuries, people dug up stones shaped like giant tongues. In Malta, they were sold as serpents' tongues, turned to stone.

Host: In 1666, Nicolaus Steno cut open a shark's head and found the same shapes in its mouth. Teeth.

Host: The biggest came from megalodon. Teeth up to about 18 centimeters. A shark maybe 15 to 20 meters long. Maybe more.

Megalodon: Still. Out. There.

Host: In 2013, a TV special said so too. The scientists in it were actors. About 4.8 million people watched.

Megalodon: Millions can't be wrong.

Archie, the giant squid: Out where, exactly?

Host: The deep sea? Sharks almost never go below 3,000 meters. The deepest one ever recorded was at about 3,700. And there's very little to eat down there.

Host: Sharks shed teeth their whole lives. Yet no megalodon tooth anyone has found is younger than about 3.6 million years.

Megalodon: ...So I'm a rerun.

Host: But in 1997, the ocean made a sound so big, people blamed a living monster. And 2 of our suspects made the list.

Host: In 1997, underwater microphones listening for volcanoes heard a sound so big it reached sensors thousands of kilometers apart.

Host: The suspects: secret military tests. Ship engines. Giant squids. Whales.

Archie, the giant squid: Me? I'm quiet!

Host: Sperm whales do make the loudest sound of any animal on record.

Sperm whale: ...Wasn't me.

Host: Years later, NOAA found the answer. An icequake: a huge iceberg cracking and breaking off a glacier in Antarctica.

Host: And the clip NOAA posted? Sped up 16 times. At its real speed, most of it is too low for human ears.

Sperm whale: Told you.

Host: No squid, no shark, no sound has ever been proven to sink a ship.

Host: Every suspect tested.

Host: But one of them really did sink a ship. You've seen every clue. Who was it? Say it out loud.

Host: Look closer. It's been on the map since the very first shot.

Sperm whale: ...Back.

Host: In 1539, Olaus Magnus drew a whale attacking a ship, on his map of the northern seas. He even wrote that whales like it could sink ships.

Host: November 20th, 1820. The middle of the Pacific, more than 1,500 kilometers from the nearest land. A sperm whale rammed a ship called the Essex.

Host: Then it swam off, turned around, and hit the ship again. Head first.

Host: 20 men escaped in 3 whaleboats. 8 survived. Their story helped inspire Moby Dick.

Archie, the giant squid: YOU?

Sperm whale: One of us.

Archie, the giant squid: They blamed ME! For centuries!

Host: No squid has ever been proven to sink a ship. A whale did.

Archie, the giant squid: Why would anyone do that?

Sperm whale: Ask what the ship was doing out there.

Host: The Essex was a whaling ship. Two of its whaleboats were out, chasing a pod of sperm whales, when one turned on the ship.

Host: Sperm whales were a top target for whalers until the late 1980s. They're still a threatened species.

Host: Every time a ship came up, he went quiet. Now you know why.

Sperm whale: Our map.

Archie, the giant squid: Mine.

Sperm whale: ...Flattering.

Host: They drew what scared them.

Host: Archie's monster is the whale. The whale's monster was the ship. And the sailors' monster was Archie.

Host: And the map isn't finished. In 2026, scientists reported giant squid DNA floating in the sea off Australia. Nobody saw a squid. It was there anyway.

Archie, the giant squid: There. Fixed it.

Host: Sailors swore the sea was full of monsters. They were right. It just depends whose map you're holding.

Archie, the giant squid: So... are we good?

Sperm whale: You're still lunch.

Archie, the giant squid: Fair.