Jumping on a surf board and hitting the waves is a truly exhilarating experience. Water sports can be a ton of fun and obviously, there’s always the chance that you’ll spot a fish or two. James Taylor was off in the water paddle boarding when he came across an incredible find. This find would change his perspective of the ocean forever.
20. Paddle Boarding
Image: Daily Mail
James Taylor, 39, was off on his surf board one day in Merkbosstrand, South Africa. He was engaging in one of his favorite water sports: paddle boarding. It was a typical day out on the water or so Taylor thought.
19. Spotted
Image: Daily Mail
Taylor was paddling around with his wife, Christina, when he spotted something out of the ordinary in the water. He was immediately caught off guard by what he saw. You won’t believe what it was!
18. Giant Squid
Image: YouTube
What Taylor saw in the water was actually a giant squid! Not only was it a giant squid, but it also appeared to be injured. Taylor immediately knew he had to do something.
17. Acting Quick
Image: Daily Mail
Acting fast, Taylor did the best thing he could do at the moment. He took a rope and lowered it over to help grab the squid. The squid however had different plans in mind.
16. Grab On
Image: earthtouchnews
Instead of moving toward the rope, the squid decided to go for something else entirely. He reached over and wrapped his tentacles onto Taylor’s board. The squid was obviously looking for a comfortable ride.
15. Giant Wave
Image: Washington Post
Suddenly, a giant waved hit Taylor’s board and sent him rolling in the water. The squid tightened its grip on the board and then the video fast forwards to James and his wife back on the shore. The couple decided to upload the video footage for everyone to see.
14. What Happened
Image: Daily Mail
James never disclosed what happened to the squid after all of that hard work. However, he did upload the footage of the rescue onto his Instagram account. People were immediately curious and watched.
13. The Video
Image: YouTube
On his video of the event, James wrote: “Spotted an injured giant squid just behind the waves in Melkboss a while back and decided to try and get it to the beach.” So why did James have a camera ready to capture the aquatic moment?
12. Founder
Image: fancam
James is actually the co-founder of FanCam. FanCam is a company that works to create high-resolution photos by piecing together 100s of high-resolution photos together to make one big picture. So what exactly does that mean?
11. Amazing Images
Image: fancam.com
The images that FanCam creates are large enough so that you can pick out a single person at a stadium event. So Taylor is no stranger to working with cameras and just so happened to have one on him when the squid approached him and his wife.
10. Lots of Views
Image: Instagram
Taylor’s Instagram video of the squid encounter generated a ton of buzz. People were genuinely interested in seeing a giant squid up close. The video racked up over 60,000 views on the picture sharing app.
9. Mixed Reviews
Image: Jacaranda FM
Many people were in awe over the sight of the giant squid and commended Taylor on the video. Others, however, questioned why Taylor would want to bring the squid onto the shore. There was a serious mixture of comments…
8. Questioning
Image: YouTube
Here’s what one concerned user had to say: “Why would you take it to the beach? Because you guessed it was hurt, you get to decide it gets to die?” Still, not all of the commentary was negative. Many people genuinely enjoyed the footage of the giant squid.
7. Mystery Animal
Image: CNN.com
Believe it or not, it is not very common to spot out a giant squid. Until recently, scientists haven’t known much about this aquatic animal. Much of what is known was from the rare sightings that have occurred or washed up carcasses on beach shores.
6. Large
Image: BreakingNews365.net
Giant squids are the largest of all known squid species. They often reside in very deep cold water. This is why it is difficult to study them as scientists cannot reach these depths easily. They’ve been discovered in quite a lot of areas around the world.
5. Discoveries
Image: Huffington Post
Giant squids have been discovered in Northern parts of the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, Sea of Japan, Hawaii, and California. Regardless of the many areas that giant squids reside in, they continue to remain a highly elusive animal.
4. Answers
Image: YouTube
Finally, after receiving so many comments on his Instagram video, Taylor began to provide users with answers. He explained what happened after he caught the squid and whether it ended up surviving or not. “I actually cut its head off when I got it to the beach to make sure it did not suffer any more than it already had,” Taylor explained.
3. Study
Image: YouTube
Taylor continued to explain the situation to everyone: “I also saved the beak which I gave to a professor here in Cape Town that has been studying them for 15 years. The most probable cause of the bad state he was in was injury during mating.”
2. Different Sizes
Image: YouTube
Taylor explained that female squids tend to get much larger than males. Often when the squids mate, the males risk serious injury or death because the females hurt them in self-defense. Regardless, Taylor believes that he did the right thing by sparing the squid any more pain.
1. Good Heart
Image: YouTube
The entire situation obviously points out that Taylor’s heart was in the right place when he approached the squid. Thanks to his video footage, more people are able to see just how massive a giant squid can get. Talk about an amazing experience.