Monster Squid Washes Up In Australia

550-Pound Colossus Found By Tasmanian Beachcomber Is One Of The Largest Ever Seen

(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.

[gaye5]

billysmith6, I lived 44 years in New Zealand and moved to Australia many years ago...
NZ and Australia have a friendly rivalry going, but I would not say that Australians are any more lairs than any where else in the world..
And this squid is what they say...
But perhaps you should look at who makes the most unnecessary nasty comments..
There is no need to for anyone to put dispersions on others comments, we all have the right to have opinions whether we think that they are right or wrong..
I have appreciated what many people have said on here and although many comments have been different to mine, I am prepared to learn through them..

[weareone2]

If you had read the article carefully, you would have seen that the "half-ton colussus" was a different squid, caught in February.

[randalds]

I wondered where Cheney's been lately.

[cnjcc]

"Half-ton Colossus Washed onto Beach" ... someone should inform the person that composes these headlines that 550 lbs is not half of 2000 lbs ... duh.

[blackbug99]

"At least they didn't have to kill this one." -
Posted by djberson

An excellent point. I hate, when, "in the name of science we kill something to learn about it."

[rafterman1]

Not as big news as it used to be now that they've been photographed in the wild this past year.

[drummer94]

Calamari anyone? Bring your own lemon.

[djberson]

At least they didn't have to kill this one.