WELLINGTON, New Zealand — It was a calm morning in Antarctica's
remote Ross Sea, during the season when the sun never sets, when
Capt. John Bennett and his crew hauled up a creature with tentacles
like fire hoses and eyes like dinner plates from a mile below the
surface.
A colossal squid: 350 kilograms (770 pounds), as long as a
minibus and one of the sea's most elusive species. It had been
frozen for eight months until Tuesday, when scientists in New
Zealand got a long-anticipated chance to thaw out the animal and
inspect it — once they used a forklift to maneuver it into a
tank.
Huge squid sometimes inhabit the world of fiction and
imagination, but have rarely been seen in daylight. It's possible
that ancient sightings of the species gave rise to tales of the
kraken, or giant sea-monster squid, said Kat Bolstad, a squid
scientist from the Auckland University of Technology led the team
examining the creature.
She described this rare specimen as "very big, very
beautiful."
The squid is a female, and its eight arms are each well over a
meter (3.3 feet) long. Its two tentacles would have been perhaps
double that length if they had not been damaged.
"This is essentially an intact specimen, which is almost an
unparalleled opportunity for us to examine," Bolstad said. "This is
a spectacular opportunity."
Many people around the world agreed: About 142,000 people from
180 countries watched streaming footage of the squid examination on
the Internet.
Remarkably, Bennett and his crew on the San Aspiring toothfish
boat have caught two giant squid. Their first, hauled in seven
years ago, is on display in New Zealand's national museum, Te
Papa.
Bennett said there was so much excitement about his previous
catch, he thought he had better save the latest one for
research.
"It was partly alive, it was still hanging onto the fish,"
Bennett recalls. "Just a big bulk in the water. They're huge, and
the mantle's all filled with water. It's quite an awesome
sight."
Susan Waugh, a senior curator at Te Papa, said scientists hope
to find out more about where the creature fits in the food chain,
how much genetic variation there is among different squid types,
and basic facts about how the colossal squid lives and dies.
She said scientists plan to further assess the condition of the
squid before determining whether to preserve it for public
display.
Bolstad said sperm whales often eat colossal squid and are known
to play with their food, and sailors may have mistaken that for
epic battles.
"On the other hand, we don't really know what the grog rations
were like at that time at sea, either," she said. "So it may be
that we've got a bit of a fisherman's story going on there,
too."
Chilli and Ketchup ready?!?!
Enjoy your Calamari here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9syNNW_41Ss
