Official News - page 7

REAL LIFE NEWS: FISHERMEN CATCH GIANT SQUID

by Hazed

Startled fishermen from New Zealand have landed the biggest catch ever - an absolutely huge squid measuring 10 metres long and weighing in at 450kg. It's an example of the "colossal squid", Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, and is the largest ever found. They made their astonishing catch in Antartic waters after a two-hour battle to land the behemoth.

This species of squid was first identified in 1925 but it's proved elusive. The first specimen ever to be hooked intact was an immature female back in 2005, which weighed a mere 150kg.

The kiwi fishermen were hunting Patagonian toothfish when they encountered this beast - which was also snacking on the toothfish. It was almost dead by the time it reached the surface, and the crew had to take a great deal of care to get the specimen aboard their board in a good condition. It's now frozen and being examined by scientists.

Steve O'Shea from Auckland's University of Technology said, "I can assure you that this is going to draw phenomenal interest. It is truly amazing."

You can see some pictures of the colossal squid here. I certainly wouldn't want to encounter this alien creature from the deep when it wasn't dead and frozen! More facts about giant squids here.

Footnote: one newspaper calculated that the creature would supply enough meat to eat fried calamari three times a day for two years. You'd need an awful lot of tartare sauce to accompany that!

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