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New Zealand fishermen catch "collosal squid"


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Those fishermen must be delighted - a lucky find and they're "squids in"!

We just dinna ken fit's doon there!

Was watching my Blue Planet DVD, the episode about "The Deep". Amazing how species have evolved and the precise ecological balance means nothing is wasted a grey whale carcass can be fed on for years there are some species of fish and crustacean-type-things that have only ever been seen feeding on the carcasses of grey whales. Most species at 1000 or so feet below sea level are transparent and they all have these weird defence/attack/evasion mechanisms involving the reflection of light, some of the weirdest looking things. It was previously thought that no life could exist on earth without the sun but it has been discovered that there are species that exist without exposure to sunlight itself or to other organisms that have been exposed to sunlight. Only 1% of the biggest known abyss has been explored by man (there are only 5 submersibles in the world capable of doing this) so imagine what else could be down there....

(Please note I am not a marine biologist......)

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For a "collossal" squid, this one is a bit of a tiddler. It may be the biggest yet seen for that particular species but would be far from the biggest squid ever recorded. Indeed, there was one washed-up here late 19th/early 20th century which was around 180 feet long. I've got a photo of it kicking around somewhwere, taken from up the Mitchell Tower in Marischal College, with the squid stretched-out in the Quad below. Fully unravelled, the beast takes-up almost the entire length of the Quad & even then, that is not the biggest example as some squid-fighting marks found on the carcasses of Sperm Whales point to well-over 200' examples being part of their diet.

Only 18' but this was washed-up near Newburgh in 1988:

arch002.jpg

Yes, that day was a tad smelly!

Keep watching those tides! :)

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there was one washed-up here late 19th/early 20th century which was around 180 feet long. I've got a photo of it kicking around somewhwere, taken from up the Mitchell Tower in Marischal College, with the squid stretched-out in the Quad below.

180 feet? That would be scary as fuck

I'd love to see that photo if you can put on-line somewhere, or even email it to the Evening Express - they love all that interesting old picture stuff.

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