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Science

Colossal Squid Landed Intact In Antarctica 85

Posted by kdawson from the bigger-than-giant dept.
zakkie writes "New Zealand fisherman have caught a massive 450-kg colossal squid in Antarctic waters. This is by far the biggest yet found, measuring over 10 meters in length and weighing 450 kg. It has been taken back to New Zealand for study." The NZ government's announcement page features a downloadable backgrounder on the colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) and a 1.1-MB popup portrait of the animal in the fishing boat's hold.
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Colossal Squid Landed Intact In Antarctica More

Colossal Squid Landed Intact In Antarctica

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  • Image mirror (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    In case of Slashdotting, I've mirrored the image [google.com]. Mirror image will be removed this weekend...

  • yummy (Score:4, Funny)

    by the unbeliever ( 201915 ) <chris+slashdot&atlgeek,com> on Thursday February 22, 2007 @09:44AM (#18108346) Homepage
    oh gods, the calamari that could come from that beast...
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Mongoose ( 8480 )
      Calmari would be in the EU, this is Auckland -- they'll sell it to Japanese tourists as ika nigiri! ;)

    • Re:yummy (Score:5, Informative)

      by jamestheprogrammer ( 932405 ) on Thursday February 22, 2007 @09:52AM (#18108416)
      Sorry to disappoint you, but if this is anything like the giant squid (and it probably is), it has ammonia in it to help resist deep-water pressure. That would make it taste terrible (and probably toxic, too). Besides, who would come to a restaurant that smelled like they put window cleaner in their hot-and-sour soup? I know you're joking, but I thought I'd point this out...
      • The ammonium is used for bouyancy (being lower density than the surrounding seawater), and not to resist pressure. Not having any gases inside them, squid are incompressible. It's unclear whether Mesonychoteuthis has as much ammonium as Architeuthis but reports are that the specimens don't smell quite as strongly.
        • Ammonium what? Ammonium is half of your compound, what's the other half?

        • Re:yummy (Score:5, Informative)

          by Bearhouse ( 1034238 ) on Thursday February 22, 2007 @01:19PM (#18111216)
          From http://giantsquid.msstate.edu/Background/squidtxt. html [msstate.edu] OK, it's for Giant, but no reason to suppose there're not similar.. "Giant squids do not have any gas spaces in their bodies, which means they do not have soft bladders filled with gas to keep them from sinking as fish have. In fact, no squids do, and neither do really deep sea fishes. Air is so compressible in high pressure habitats that the bladder would be squeezed until it imploded and would be useless. How then is the giant squid able to survive in very deep waters without sinking or being crushed? The answer is ammonium ions. (Ammonia in water splits into ammonium (NH4±) and hydroxyl (OH-) ions.) Unlike air, liquids cannot be crushed or compacted or compacted. Ammonium also solves the sinking problem, since, like oil, it is lighter than seawater. A giant squid concentrates ammonium in its body and is either slightly buoyant (floats) or neutrally buoyant (does not float but does not sink). Ammonia is a natural waste product, like urine. Instead of eliminating or urinating waste out as humans do, giant squids store some of the waste in their bodies. This is why so many giant squids float to the surface and wash ashore when they die. That is also why giant squids are not very tasty to eat!"

          • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

            by joeljkp ( 254783 )
            What the hell? I go to Mississippi State, and I'm wondering why we have an entire subdomain dedicated to giant squid.

      • Some people like ammonia and salt. If it's good as a candy [hollandsedrop.com], then it's probably seasoning. (Actually that's ammoniumchloride in the candy, not ammonia). Ammonia is a gas and would dissipate quickly after a few minutes in a pan with hot oil...

      • Re:yummy (Score:4, Informative)

        by thebdj ( 768618 ) on Thursday February 22, 2007 @11:18AM (#18109480) Journal
        To further point out: Colossal Squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) != Giant Squid (Genus = Architeuthis). The Giant squid is one of multiple squid belonging to the Genus Architeuthis. The Colossal Squid is the only member of the Genus Mesonychoteuthis, well at least the only "known" and/or "living" one.

        Though, your comment might still apply since they are also deep sea dwellers, they too may contain ammonia or some other substance to help them survive the depths.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by pNutz ( 45478 )
        If you cook it you'll probably remove most of the ammonia (which evaporates quite quickly). Your house would smell awful, but the squid might be good. Ammonium bicarbonate was once used as a leavening agent (like baking soda) and had the same odoriferous effects when baked.

    • Re:yummy (Score:4, Funny)

      by 93,000 ( 150453 ) on Thursday February 22, 2007 @10:52AM (#18109126)
      According to Yahoo news [yahoo.com], calamari rings from this thing would be as large as tractor tires. (as a born and raised ND hick, I can say that even though tractor tires vary greatly in size, none of them are small enough to eat in one sitting)
    • You have to know where I'm going with this, right?

      It'll be HUGE in the tentacle pr0n market! :)

  • Sleeping (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I sure hope it's asleep, and will be sleeping for a while.

  • eyes and pigment (Score:3, Interesting)

    by ObiWanStevobi ( 1030352 ) on Thursday February 22, 2007 @10:00AM (#18108502) Journal
    Why do these things, or any creature that spend their lives at such depths have eyes and coloration? Granted, it doesn't appear that many of these creatures has evolved in a long time, but many cave dwelling creatures seem to loose their eyes and pigmentation relatively fast.
    • They probably don't spend all of their time very deep in the water, and probably come up often enough for it to be relevant..

      Or maybe God wanted to show the anti-evolutionists that the human eye is crap, contrary to one of their arguments, and left thema round as a nice counter-example of how to make a good eye instead of the POS pieces of crap we have stuck in our face.

      I tend to lean towards the former and not the latter though.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by rchatterjee ( 211000 )
      The eyes could have use to see prey who have bioillumination at depth and to spot prey silhouetted against light from the surface at shallower depths.

      • Re:eyes and pigment (Score:4, Informative)

        by flyingsquid ( 813711 ) on Thursday February 22, 2007 @11:12AM (#18109394)
        Also, giant squid (I'm not sure which, Architeuthis or Mesonychoteuthis, would have bigger eyes) have the largest eyes of any animal on earth. The sheer light collecting power of having such a large retina suggests they're designed to see in very low-light conditions (like owls and whipporwhills), although I don't know if anybody knows how they use them.

        • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

          by MrSquishy ( 916581 )

          ...suggests they're designed to see in very low-light conditions (like owls and whipporwhills)
          How in the heck does a giant squid get into an owl?
          • You can't get a squid like this inside an owl. Unless you ... Push! Real! Hard!
          • Using the same method by which one puts an elephant into an icebox, of course.

              Sheese, don't they teach this in schools anymore?

              First, you find a quantum black hole...

            SB

    • Re:eyes and pigment (Score:4, Informative)

      by Scarblac ( 122480 ) <slashdot@gerlich.nl> on Thursday February 22, 2007 @10:18AM (#18108712) Homepage
      Last week there was a video in the news, it was discovered that giant squid uses flashes of light. That probably gives them a huge advantage, in an area where few of their prey will be used to light, they can see. See e.g. http://www.mercopress.com/vernoticia.do?id=9855&fo rmato=HTML [mercopress.com].

    • Re:eyes and pigment (Score:5, Interesting)

      by fitten ( 521191 ) on Thursday February 22, 2007 @10:28AM (#18108834)
      If you notice, it is red. This is actually useful at depth as light of those wavelengths are filtered by the water so that even at relatively shallow depths, reds appear as grays. At 'deep' depths, no red wavelengths of light are found (from the surface/sun) so animals that are red at that depth are 'colorless'.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Cheeko ( 165493 )
        Its also possible that the eyes are seeing at wavelengths outside of the visible range. Bees for instance see in ultraviolet, and other animals see in infrared. Its possible that the eyes could pick up heat signatures or something that does exist at that depth.

        Also they could migrate to higher depths. One belief is that these things hunt at similar depths to whales, so from very deep, to a more shallow depth as well.

        The pigmentation could also be just a consequential byproduct of some other adaptation.

    • Why do these things, or any creature that spend their lives at such depths have eyes and coloration? Granted, it doesn't appear that many of these creatures has evolved in a long time, but many cave dwelling creatures seem to loose their eyes and pigmentation relatively fast.
      Maybe because a lot of them can MAKE light?

      Go watch Nemo, fer crying out loud.
  • I'm sure glad it landed intact, I've been told that a crashing squid can cover a whole neighborhood in calamari. Wait, what? That's not what that headline meant? Never mind.
    • I was just about to make this exact post. Well, not "exact" but pretty darn close. Kind of like it, anyway. Similar, but different. Very different. Completely something else, in fact. Not that post at all.

      I was thinking "Squid from space? HOLY CRAP THAT'S COOL!!!"

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Cheapy ( 809643 )
      The Flying...Squid...Monster? Poor Japanese school girls. Atleast they could stay away from tentacles if they avoided water...

    • Solution (Score:3, Funny)

      by CdBee ( 742846 )
      Calamari Damasy
  • These big guys have been popping up recently it seems, wonder why so many of them are getting caught up.

    • Re:Another squid recently. (Score:5, Funny)

      by $RANDOMLUSER ( 804576 ) on Thursday February 22, 2007 @10:34AM (#18108896)
      There can be only one answer: GODZILLA HAS AWAKENED!!!

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by oni ( 41625 )
      wonder why so many of them are getting caught up.

      my guess is that someone has invented a way of catching them.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by matthewlc1 ( 1059460 )
      I would think the reason for the recent appearance of these deep ocean species, are a result of the fact that in the last few years the fishing fleets have all but destroyed there regular shallow target species. As such they have had to abandon shallow water fishing and are now fishing for what is left in the ocean. That seems to be deep water species. If you go to the fish market today. notice how many new and weired fish are now on sale. 10 years ago none of those fish would have been caught or sold. th

    • Re:Another squid recently. (Score:5, Informative)

      by Red Flayer ( 890720 ) on Thursday February 22, 2007 @11:59AM (#18110066) Journal

      These big guys have been popping up recently it seems, wonder why so many of them are getting caught up.

      If there has been a statistically significant increase, it's probably due to one or more of four things:

      1. Fishermen are more thoroughly sieving the deeps, due to declining fish stocks

      2. The press that such catches get means that boat captains who previously wouldn't bother reporting these catches now do so, instead of cutting them up for bait or whatever they'd previously do.

      3. Changes in oceanic conditions resulting in different behavior by the behemoths (for example, changes in salinity, temperature, or prey location).

      4. These colossal squid are simply the advance guard of the armies of He Who Lies Dead But Dreaming (Cthulhu), on the march from R'lyeh to lay the smackdown on us humans.

      While I suspect that if there is a noticeable increase in giant squid catches, it's most likely due to options 1 and 2. But something deep inside me tells me that option 4 is the real truth.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by jd ( 1658 )
        I'd extend (1) a little - due to declining fish stocks, the squid are having to more thoroughly sieve the fishing nets to find anything worth eating. (3) is probably significant in places - the "dead zones" stretch far enough off coastlines to affect locations inhabited by giant and colossal squid.

        Most such squid that have been found have been found very dead. This one was trying to get at food that had been caught, but appears to have been extremely dead by the time it was landed. I'll add a (1.5) of: fi

      • 5. A number of other recent finds -- the near-live capture of the giant squid last Christmas, for instance -- have been the result of deliberate efforts to try and catch a giant squid. It wasn't just random chance; they're popping up more because we're actively trying to find them more, and such efforts are also increasingly effective with recent, significant improvements in our understanding of such creatures.

  • Wow (Score:4, Funny)

    by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Thursday February 22, 2007 @10:33AM (#18108878)
    that's the second biggest squid I've ever seen.
  • This has to be Zoidberg's Great Great Great Great Uncle!

  • obSealab (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Rob T Firefly ( 844560 ) on Thursday February 22, 2007 @10:59AM (#18109226) Homepage Journal
    Ah yes, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni. With a razor sharp beak, that can tear steel as easily as I tear a croissant... [archive.org]
  • I hope Mr Schneier is reading today. This is another one for his famous Friday Squid Blog http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/02/frid ay_squid_bl_45.html [schneier.com]

  • Ryleh! (Score:4, Funny)

    by dodobh ( 65811 ) on Thursday February 22, 2007 @11:14AM (#18109438) Homepage
    Cthulhu comes!
  • PLEASE nobody tell the Sci-Fi channel. We do NOT need another "Giant (fill in creature here) Attacks!" movie.

  • I wonder... (Score:3, Funny)

    by lpangelrob ( 714473 ) on Thursday February 22, 2007 @11:39AM (#18109786)
    I wonder if the giant squid thought that it and the ground could be friends.

    Alas.
  • In other news, the largest ever seal was clubbed.... I mean, really, why do I want to hear this?
  • ...they promptly capture it and kill it. Bravo. If they really want to 'study' it, perphaps they should just observe for a while...
    • Mmmm, I'm not sure that deep-sea animals such as this squid are capable of surviving in anything other than extremely deep waters, so my guess would be that it was dead when they netted it.
      • Ya, you're partly right -- they said it was close to death when they landed it... I'm sure it was in its last throes. Maybe I'm just pissed about the Japanese pseudoscience of whaling.
  • Suckers!

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