It's one of the oldest nautical legends in the book: The giant sea creature with unending tentacles that destroys ships and devours sailors. Whatever you want to call it - the Kraken, the Hydra, Jerry - tales of sea monsters have been around for as long as people have traveled on boats. Obviously, nothing like that exists in real life ... or does it?

They might not cause shipwrecks, but the Giant Pacific octopus is real, and certainly gigantic enough to inspire folk tales. They're considered arguably the largest species of octopi in the world; According to National Geographic, their average size is equivalent to a six-foot-tall human (which is still pretty huge, let's be honest), and scientists have found an individual Giant Pacific that was 30 feet long and weighed more than 600 pounds.

What's even more incredible is that one of the easiest places to find these amazing creatures is right in our own Puget Sound. In fact, for scuba enthusiasts, finding a Giant Pacific octopus isn't even that difficult, as they're quite common in the area. David Dye, the owner of Dave's Dive Services in Tacoma, said he and his friend witnessed one at Zee's Reef near Fox Island that was breathtakingly colossal.

"I was going by this wall (Ed. Note: slang for an underwater cliff), and I was looking around, and at a certain point, I saw an eye," Dye said. "I thought, ‘wait a minute,' and I went back, and there's this big eye inside this hole. I thought, ‘Wow, what's that?' and I peeked in there, shined my light, and there was an octopus in there. It was really, really huge. I would have to say at least four hundred pounds. It was just sitting in its little cave, fully expanded."

Dye, who also catches octopi (he didn't even try to nab that giant one, for obvious reasons), used a different octopus that he caught as a good comparison to the freakishly large one he happened across.

"I personally caught one with my hands that was seventy-five pounds and fourteen feet across. That octopus could've eaten the one I caught," Dye said.

And he's not the only diver who's witnessed one of these local behemoths. Arly Buchanan, manager at Tacoma's Lighthouse Diving Center, has seen plenty, although he warns that they're a bit tricky to find.

"They're a little shy and reclusive," Buchanan said. "They camouflage themselves very, very well. It's not uncommon to think you're looking at a rock."

However, Dye said they're not too hidden, if you're looking in the right places.

"First off, the very best place that I know of - it's very easy to dive in - is down in Titlow Beach. There's a little park there; it's protected," Dye said. "If you go right out to where the dropoff is, there's a channel there where boats go in and out of, near Narrows Marina. There's a wall there, and if you look in the holes in that wall, you can always see them there."

Dye also recommends looking near Sunrise Beach in Gig Harbor, but he said he can't reveal all of his secret locations.

If you want to try scuba diving yourself, and you've never attempted it before, there are a few different locations in the Tacoma area that offer lessons. One of them is Lighthouse Diving Center, located near the Tacoma Dome, and another is Underwater Sports in Lakewood and Olympia (unfortunately, Dave's Dive Services doesn't offer lessons for newbies). You can find more information about both of these stores at www.lighthousediving.com and www.underwatersports.com. Just make sure that if you see a Pacific Giant, you get a great photo. And don't freak out too much if you spot one; in terms of "monsters," they're more Monsters' Inc. than Godzilla.