"Release the Kraken," exclaims Zeus in the seminal 1981 film The Clash of the Titans. The beastly, tentacle-ripe creature in that film is obviously a myth. However, a real life creature that rules the darkest depths of the Pacific Ocean is causing some angst among fisherman. Called the giant squid, this menacing seafarer may have actually inspired stories of sea monsters like the Kraken in the first place.

Why might one be weary of giant squid? Well, the creature can grow up to 43-feet-long. They also have a lot of girth. Male giant squid weigh upwards of 300 pounds while their female counterparts can tip the scales at a whopping 600 pounds. But why are tough, burly fisherman worried sick? That'd have to do with a recent uptick in giant squid catches off of the Japan Coast.

There have confirmed catches of giant squid in the Himi fishing port in Toyama Prefecture, off the coast of Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture, the Town of Iwami in the Tottori Prefecture and finally near Sadogashima Island's shoreline.

Among the various squid that have been captured in these areas one may have been upwards of 24 feet long, though its tentacles were missing.

Shigenori Goto, one of the fisherman working off the coast of Sadogashimi Island, shared his thoughts with the media about catching one of the giant squids in his net.

"When I hauled up the net, the squid slowly came floating up," Goto said. "This is the first time I've seen such a large squid."

"I had seen no giant squid before in my 15-year fishing career. I wonder whether it may be some kind of omen."

Whatever you call it, an omen, a premonition or a bad feeling, the fact is that catching multiple giant squid has not sat well with the fisherman working those waters.

But why is this continually happening? Quite simply, giant squid are a bit too cold. They rose to the surface of the Sea of Japan in hopes of finding warmer waters. Once they reached the surface, the strong current swept them closer to shore and thus into the fisherman's nets.