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The fabled iceberg squid, a gargantuan arctic squid, who camouflages himself as an iceberg, is the subject of this whimsical mini linocut print. Some believe the iceberg squid is imaginary, but who am I to say?
It is widely believed that the blue whale is the largest extant animal on earth, but the iceberg squid can dwarf even that mighty mammal. Improbably, it is its sheer size which makes it so hard to find -
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#MastoArt
#linocut #printmaking #imaginary #squid #iceberg #camouflage
along with, of course, its superior camouflage and intelligence. At more than three times the estimated maximum length of the so-called giant squid, or the colossal squid a 40 to 45 m (about 130 to 150 ft) iceberg squid is truly gigantic, though the blue whale retains the right to its title as heaviest known animal ever. Maximum mass estimates are roughly 30 tonnes. It has the largest eyes ever observed in the animal kingdom, more than 1 m (3 ft) in diameter.
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Iceberg squid are extremely adept at blending into their environment & are almost never recognized as being alive, & more mobile than an actual iceberg. Other arctic megafauna, including polar bears & walrus, have inadvertently used the iceberg squid as a home.
The shape and colouration of their tail, fins & mantle are specially evolved to mimic that of icebergs. Like other, smaller squid, its skin is covered in chromatophores, which allow it to change colour to better blend in with its
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surroundings. It can lower the temperature of its tough outer skin to encourage actual ice crystal growth, which enhances its disguise.
Like the colossal squid, it has a slow metabolic rate, eats little and is a slow-moving ambush predator. Its eight tentacles have suckers, but no hooks, and do its two feelers.
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Details descriptions of its anatomy and behaviour are lacking, due to the scarcity of sightings, and the loss of all scientific data, when a mobile research station became adrift, was abandoned and sank due to rapid glacial melt, or, if reports are to believed, when its supporting iceberg squid dove below the sea surface.
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