Scientists latch on to colossal squid | Marine life | The Guardian

Huge specimen caught in Antarctic waters by New Zealand fishing crew is one of few ever examined

Scientists in New Zealand were suckers for the chance to examine a rare colossal squid, a mammoth creature the length of a minibus and seldom seen by any living thing other than the deep-sea creatures it preys upon.

The squid, weighing 350kg (770lb), was hauled up in Antarctica’s remote Ross Sea by toothfish boat captain John Bennett and his crew. It was frozen for eight months until New Zealand scientists got the chance to thaw it out for examination.

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 metre 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.”

About 142,000 people from 180 countries watched the examination streamed over the web.

Bennett and his crew on the San Aspiring toothfish boat have now 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 on to the fish,” Bennett said. “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 hoped 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 planned to further assess the condition of the squid before determining whether to preserve it for public display.

Huge squid sometimes inhabit the world of fiction and imagination but are rarely seen in daylight. It is possible that ancient sightings of the species gave rise to tales of the kraken, or giant sea-monster squid.