Technicians preparing for the defrosting of the largest ever colossal squid specimen have successfully practised with a test block of ice today. The specimen has been frozen in fishing net inside a 1.5m3 plastic container encased by a metal frame since February 2007 and provides a unique set of circumstances for the scientists and technicians.
A squid as long as a bus and weighing 550 pounds washed up on an Australian beach.
"It is a whopper" - 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.
Curious creature caught off Keahole Point What appears to be a half-squid, half-octopus specimen found off Keahole Point on the Big Island remains unidentified today and could possibly be a new species, said local biologists. The specimen was found caught in a filter in one of Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority's deep-sea water pipelines last week. The pipeline, which runs 3,000 feet deep, sucks up cold, deep-sea water for the tenants of the natural energy lab.
A colossal squid, believed to be the first adult male specimen to be landed, was delivered to Te Papa yesterday. Unfrozen, the specimen is thought to weigh approximately 450kg and measure 10metres in length. The squid is currently stored in a walk-in freezer in Te Papa’s Tory St research facility. Te Papa also holds a young female colossal squid specimen found in 2003, measuring 5.4 metres long – the largest recorded specimen at that time.
A fishing crew has caught a colossal squid that could weigh a half-ton and prove to be the biggest specimen ever landed, a fisheries official said Thursday. The squid, weighing an estimated 990 lbs and about 39 feet long, took two hours to land in Antarctic waters. The fishermen were catching Patagonian toothfish, sold under the name Chilean sea bass, south of New Zealand.
"The squid was eating a hooked toothfish when it was hauled from the deep" - Jim Anderton, New Zealand Fisheries Minister.
The fishing crew and a fisheries official on board their ship estimated the length and weight of the squid: Detailed, official measurements have not been made. The date when the colossus was caught also was not disclosed. Squid, known by the scientific name Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, are estimated to grow up to 46 feet long and have long been one of the most mysterious creatures of the deep ocean.
Enormous deep-sea squid emit blinding flashes of light as they attack their prey, research shows. Taningia danae's spectacular light show was revealed in video footage taken in deep waters off Chichijima Island in the North Pacific. Japanese scientists believe the creatures use the bright flashes to disorientate potential victims.
A Japanese research team has succeeded in filming a giant squid live -- possibly for the first time -- and says the elusive creatures may be more plentiful than previously believed, a researcher said Friday. The research team, led by Tsunemi Kubodera, videotaped the giant squid at the surface as they captured it off the Ogasawara Islands south of Tokyo earlier this month. The squid, which measured about 24-feet long, died while it was being caught.