Once thought to be a mythical creature from the book 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, the elusive kraken, or giant squid, is no stranger to the waters of Puget Sound; in 1996 one of our beaches regurgitated the corpse of a seven-and-a-half foot long juvenile. Reaching over 60 feet in length, the equivalent of two school buses, with an eye the size of a human head and a beak-like mouth that can rip apart flesh (save your late-night skinny-dipping for Tubs on 45th!), the mollusk is the focus of In Search of Giant Squid, an exhibit which runs at the Burke Museum through Dec. 31. For years, scientists and fishermen around the world have been tracking the squid’s only known predator, sperm whales—occasional specimens of which bear the battle scars of tooth-like tentacles—in hopes of bringing home a live one.

Sat., Sept. 22, 2007