July 11
Canberra. Australia - One of the largest giant squid ever found has washed up on a remote Australian beach, sparking a race against time by scientists to examine the rarely seen deep-ocean creature.
The squid, the mantle or main body of which measured two-meters (6.5 feet) long, was found by a walker late on Tuesday on Ocean Beach, near Strahan, on the western coast of island state Tasmania.
The main mantle is about one meter across and its total length is about eight meters.
Scientists would take samples from the creature, identified as an Architeuthis, which can grow to more than 10 meters (33 feet) in length and weigh more than 275 kilograms (606 pounds). The Tasmanian animal was 250 kg.
The tentacles had been badly damaged, so the overall length of the animal could not be determined. Park rangers had moved the remains from the water.
Giant squid, once believed to be mythical despite occasional sightings by mariners, feed on fish and other squid. Last year, fishermen off the Falkland Islands caught a complete animal measuring 8.62 meters.
Scientists believe giant squid usually live at ocean depths of between 200-700 meters (660-2,300 ft), relying in part on volleyball-sized eyes, the largest in the animal kingdom.
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Full Version: Rare giant squid washed up in Australia
Class! 
Man that thing is HUGE i wonder how fast squids that big can propell themselves thrue the water
Wow 'volley ball eyes' really puts into perspective how impressively large they must be.
If that was only 2 metres in lenth and they can grow to 10 metres, it must have been a baby.
I really just thought you guys would enjot this read. Seems the baby mamoth stole this ones thunder, but thats ok.
Now thats good eatin!
QUOTE
One of the largest giant squid ever found has washed up on a remote Australian beach, sparking a race against time by scientists to examine the rarely seen deep-ocean creature.
The squid, the mantle or main body of which measured two-meters (6.5 feet) long, was found by a walker late on Tuesday on Ocean Beach, near Strahan, on the western coast of island state Tasmania.
The main mantle is about one meter across and its total length is about eight meters.
Scientists would take samples from the creature, identified as an Architeuthis, which can grow to more than 10 meters (33 feet) in length and weigh more than 275 kilograms (606 pounds). The Tasmanian animal was 250 kg.
The squid, the mantle or main body of which measured two-meters (6.5 feet) long, was found by a walker late on Tuesday on Ocean Beach, near Strahan, on the western coast of island state Tasmania.
The main mantle is about one meter across and its total length is about eight meters.
Scientists would take samples from the creature, identified as an Architeuthis, which can grow to more than 10 meters (33 feet) in length and weigh more than 275 kilograms (606 pounds). The Tasmanian animal was 250 kg.
Now thats good eatin!
I'd love to see footage of them fighting with the whales that hunt them. Squid can leave some handsome scars on whale skin.
Scaryyyy. Another reason I won't go into water that I can't see the bottom of. 
All ready has been posted in the natural world.
I guess no one saw my "giant squid" thread posted yesterday huh? Oh well I tried. 
I saw it. But too late.
That thing is small on the computer. O_O;
It does look like a baby.
That thing is small on the computer. O_O;
It does look like a baby.
now i want calamari
I love giant squids, I think they are so cool.
QUOTE(Affliction @ Jul 11 2007, 04:54 AM) 
Wow 'volley ball eyes' really puts into perspective how impressively large they must be.
I don't think the eyes generally have a correlation with the overall size of the animal.
QUOTE(stygeanhue @ Jul 12 2007, 04:18 PM)
I really just thought you guys would enjot this read. Seems the baby mamoth stole this ones thunder, but thats ok.
HOBART, Australia (AP) - A squid as long as a bus and weighing 550 pounds 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 squid 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.
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.
Now thats good eatin!
HOBART, Australia (AP) - A squid as long as a bus and weighing 550 pounds 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 squid 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.
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.
Now thats good eatin!
Yes heard about this one on the radio at work. Didn't realize it was that big though..........
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