The legend sais that the Kraken sea monster was horrifying. According to stories it was a huge, many armed creature and could reach as high as the top of a sailing ship's main mast. A Kraken would attack a ship, wrap their arms around the hull and capsize it. The crew would drown or be eaten.
In 1853, a giant cephalopod was found stranded on a Danish beach, Norwegian naturalist Japetus Steenstrup recovered the animal’s beak and used it to scientifically describe the giant squid, Architeuthis dux. The largest Architeuthis recorded reaches 18 meters in length, including the very long pair of tentacles.