Squid experts in Wellington, New Zealand thawed and examined an unusual catch on Tuesday — a colossal squid.
Frozen for eight months, researchers used a forklift to manoeuvre the 350 kilogram creature into a tank.
It was captured in Antarctica’s remote Ross Sea in December last year by captain John Bennett and his crew onboard the San Aspiring.
The squid is a female, and its eight arms are each well over a metre long.
Its two tentacles would have been perhaps double that length if they had not been damaged.
Squids are one of the sea’s most elusive species – and the capture of such an intact specimen has created interest across the world.
About 142,000 people from 180 countries watched streaming footage of the squid examination on the Internet.
Colossal squid sometimes inhabit the world of fiction and imagination, but have rarely been seen in daylight.
Remarkably, Bennett and his crew on the San Aspiring toothfish boat have caught two of them.
Their first, hauled in seven years ago, is on display in New Zealand’s national museum in Wellington, Te Papa.
Bennett said there was so much excitement about his previous catch, he thought he had better save the latest one for research.
According to Dr. Kat Bolstad from the Auckland University of Technology, it’s possible that ancient sightings of the species rise to tales of the kraken, or giant sea-monster squid.
She told Associated Press sperm whales often eat colossal squid and are known to play with their food, and sailors may have mistaken that for epic battles.
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