On September 30, 2004, Kubodera and his team became the first people to photograph a live giant squid in its natural habitat.
[2] Two years later, on December 4, 2006, he also managed to successfully film a live adult giant squid for the first time ever.
[3] On July 10, 2012, Kubodera, together with Steve O'Shea and Edith Widder, became the first to film a live giant squid in its natural habitat from a submersible off the Bonin Islands.
[4] With his partner Kyoichi Mori of the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association, Kubodera captured photos of the elusive giant squid with his special cameras, after three years of attempts.
Relying on the paths of sperm whales, the pair found suitable location to deploy their equipment.