Washington, October 31 (ANI): A photographer has captured on camera pictures of a 30-foot (9-meter) giant squid being eaten by a female sperm whale.

According to a report in National Geographic News, taken on October 15, the image shows a female sperm whale, with a calf at her side, swimming near the surface off Japan's Bonin Islands in the northwestern Pacific, carrying the remains of a roughly 30-foot (9-meter) giant squid in her jaws.

This and other "absolutely sensational" new pictures offer rare proof of the sperm whale's taste for giant squid, according to giant squid expert Steve O'Shea of the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand.

The pictures may also reveal that adult sperm whales, which grow up to 59 feet (18 meters) long, use pieces of their prizes to teach youngsters how to catch their own, O'Shea told National Geographic News.

The group of five adults and one calf kept diving deep in unison, which the apparent mother carrying the squid, according to photographer Tony Wu.

"It seemed as if the adult whales were trying to teach the baby to dive and also to eat squid," he said. (ANI)