And thus, legends of such creatures crushing flimsy wooden ships and feasting on sailors went from seaside taverns to urban communities - growing in size as they spread!Ģ. One can imagine what a fearful sight such a sea monster would be for already superstitious sailors. Their eyes are up to ten inches (25.4 cm) in circumference, which allows them to see in the dark depths of the ocean where they live. The females can grow up to an enormous size of over fifty feet (over fifteen meters), and the males are just a little shorter at around thirty-two feet (over ten meters). These longer tentacles are used to bring food into their parrot-like beaks. They have eight suckered arms and two tentacles. Like a living jet engine, this true sea monster propels itself forward by blasting sucked-in water out through a rear funnel. Scientists have since discovered many interesting facts about the giant squid. They subsequently managed to capture one and bring it to the surface. The famous author, Jules Verne, did not know when he wrote his science fiction novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea that the giant squid portrayed in his famous novel was in fact a real sea monster! The reality of it was confirmed when Japanese scientists photographed a live specimen of this sea monster in 2004. Giant Squid, from Japan, 2015, via the New York Times They were alternately seen as both good and bad - messages from God, or messages from the devil. It is thought that the Norwegians saw bits of carcasses from dead specimens of these giant sea monsters washed up on their shores, and from there the legends spread. In reality, both of these creatures have eight arms with suckers, and the squid has an additional two tentacles (appendages with suckers only at the end) which may account for the difference.

In some descriptions this sea monster has ten arms and in others eight. Over time the Kraken took on a more squid or octopus-like appearance.

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