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Scientists Found Only The Second Intact Colossal Squid — Here's What It Looks Like

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posted on Sep, 17 2014 @ 05:52 PM
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Mods: I wasn't sure exactly where to post this, so if necessary please move.

I am bringing this story to ATS members because I knew some around here would enjoy it.




A team of scientists and researchers in New Zealand today dissected only the second intact specimen of a colossal squid hauled from the ocean.

The 350kg female was caught a couple of months ago in the Ross Sea off the coast of Antarctica by a team fishing for Patagonian toothfish.

Pulled from a depth somewhere between 1200m and 1800m, it weighed about 350kg and was 3.5m long from fin to tentacle.

The fisherman ceased operations immediately once they saw the beast, and slung a tarpaulin underneath it to preserve it as well as possible. It was donated to the Museaum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and until yesterday, had been kept on ice.


Man y more pictures and story


Video from the news story:






edit on 17-9-2014 by GrantedBail because: (no reason given)



posted on Sep, 17 2014 @ 05:57 PM
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a reply to: GrantedBail

Thanks for sharing


Not quite the ship sinking variety I remember seeing in illustrations of "sea monsters" in my youth, but getting closer closer each year...

We think we know so much, in fact, we all have a lot to learn



posted on Sep, 17 2014 @ 06:00 PM
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It's time for a Calamari feast!



posted on Sep, 17 2014 @ 06:00 PM
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350kg, that's not exactly something for the freezer. We don't know if that is an adult or juvenile. Perhaps the maximum depth they can go down to depends on size? There's a limit due to the levels of oxygen in the water.



posted on Sep, 17 2014 @ 06:12 PM
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that is pretty cool but am I the only one thinking this is a really sad thing to do? they find 1 of these amazing creatures and they ?donate?(as if it is some toy?) it to a museum to cut it open and show it as if it were some freak show.

I didn't see it mentioned anywhere but was it already dead? unless it was already dead this is such a cruel thing to do, for all we know it might be 1 of the last few of its species.



posted on Sep, 17 2014 @ 06:13 PM
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Wow, the claws (that swivel 360 degrees) and the size of that beak...

That thing surely comes from Nope-lantis.



posted on Sep, 17 2014 @ 06:15 PM
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I read that giant squids reek of ammonia. Some scientists postulated that the ammonia in their bodies may be part of their means of withstanding the pressures of the depths that they live in the ocean.



posted on Sep, 17 2014 @ 06:19 PM
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a reply to: Vamana

Well, it wasn't cruel because it was dead when they cut it open.



I have seen the other (larger) colossal squid at Te Papa Tongarewa (Museum of New Zealand) and it is impressive. The swiveling claws (there was a life-size model of them) are impressively nasty.

It is a freak show, sure, but the dissection was undertaken to learn more about this rarely-seen creature of the deep.

Personally, I find it fascinating.
edit on 17-9-2014 by aorAki because: (no reason given)



posted on Sep, 17 2014 @ 07:40 PM
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a reply to: GrantedBail
Megaladon food. There is probably something that eats these things. Maybe Megaladon? These could certainly sustain them.



posted on Sep, 17 2014 @ 07:41 PM
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originally posted by: Vamana

I didn't see it mentioned anywhere but was it already dead? unless it was already dead this is such a cruel thing to do, for all we know it might be 1 of the last few of its species.


I agree, such a shame if it was alive when they found it.



posted on Sep, 17 2014 @ 07:42 PM
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That's a WOW


I'd really love to see underwater footage of it in it's natural environment swimming around someday instead of all squishy and slimy dead on some deck though.




posted on Sep, 17 2014 @ 08:02 PM
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a reply to: WeRpeons

Beat me to it, damn.



posted on Sep, 17 2014 @ 09:56 PM
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They found this one dead, but i was watching animal planet (back when they featured animals) a while ago, and these fishermen had a colossal squid caught in there net. They killed it, stabbing the crap out of the poor thing, then reeled it in. "In the name of science" was the reason.

These creatures seem too damn rare to go around killing them. If it was already dead they reeled her in, go ahead and donate. Maybe they might actually find something out this time.

Or they don't have to keep cutting these creatures open, and can just settle with it is a species of squid that is friggin huge.

Squids are damn intelligent, too. A diver told a story of how a crew of squids organized on his ass; one squid distracted him by playfully nibbling on his flipper, then the others creeped up from behind and grabbed him with there tentacles, dragging him deeper towards the bottom of the ocean. Another diver showed footage of himself being surrounded and gawked at by hundreds of them. Another showed them executing hit n' run tactics on a divers camera.

Amazing creatures.



posted on Sep, 18 2014 @ 12:11 AM
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What a great story. I would love to read more.


a reply to: bigman88




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