Rare Giant Squid Washes Up in Australia AP Posted: 2007-07-11 04:35:54 Filed Under: Science HOBART, Australia (July 11) - A squid as long as a bus and weighing 550 pounds has washed up on an Australian beach, officials said Wednesday. "It is a whopper," said Genefor Walker-Smith, a zoologist who studies invertebrates at the Tasmanian Museum. Giant squid live in waters off southern Australia and New Zealand - where a half-ton colossus, believed to be the world's largest, was caught in February. They attract the sperm whales that feed on them. The dead squid , measuring 3 feet across at its widest point and 26 feet from the tip of its body to the end of its tentacles, was found early Wednesday by a beachcomber at Ocean Beach on the island state of Tasmania's west coast, the museum said. The beast was expected to be taken to the museum, where DNA and other scientific tests would be carried out before it is preserved and possibly put on public display. And for anyone thinking of a calamari feast, Walker-Smith said giant squid contain high levels of ammonia in their bodies as a buoyancy aid. "It would not taste very nice at all," she said. New Zealand fishermen netted a 1,100-pound, 33-foot-long squid in the Southern Ocean in February. It is widely believed to be the largest specimen of the rare and mysterious deep-water species Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, or colossal squid , ever caught. Experts believe the creatures, which have long been one of the most mysterious denizens of the deep ocean, may grow even bigger - up to 46 feet long. Aww, too bad we can't eat it but damn its pretty big
yep, i read abt that too how comes none of this stuff ever happens in syd >< well we had pasha wash up in newcastle tho... lol
^ "And for anyone thinking of a calamari feast, Walker-Smith said giant squid contain high levels of ammonia in their bodies as a buoyancy aid." sorry to dissapoint you lols
oh yea and this "It would not taste very nice at all," she said so it's not a worthy risk to take lol, but some chefs could make the worst tasting thing good, the other fish is super delicious right.....
^^" I think that the giant squid is natural, not mutated chemically. It's pretty cool. I'd really like seeing one. Nothing like this in Malaysia. When I started reading, I honestly thought they'd have a giant squid feast.
oooh its the blowfish...?! I thought blowfish was the one with the spikes.... That fish looks so cute n chubbyyyy....wuehehe
Why can't a giant squid wash up in SF? I want to see one ... Actually .. I'd rather see a mermaid -tongue2
