[News]: Very Large Colossal Squid Caught

[Steve O'Shea]

I'm a tad worried about the purported size of the animal also, based on the pics. However, if there's a good 5 metres between the deck and the water level then that animal could well be huge (I don't know the lay of the vessel concerned, but I seriously doubt that the water line is that close to the deck, especially on a boat working in the Antarctic).

They must have hauled up ~ 450kg, as they had plenty of opportunity to weigh it at Sanfords when it returned (egg on face if seriously exaggerated). However, this could include a tremendous amount of water in that mantle, making it very heavy. Then again, the deck shot (with skipper) is of a deflated squid, water gone, and this must be what was weighed.

That it has been 'folded up' inside a plastic tub of dimensions 1.2m x 1.2m makes it appear small as well (that's not a big box).

We'll see soon enough. I don't think we'll be disappointed.

 

[OB]

Nor do I; it's by all means a sizeable animal and if it's indeed a mature male we'll have a field day getting to grips with all those new insights! Just imagine it's only two or three years old, for instance, and there's the main issue of the eye morphology to consider, can't wait for all of that, quite honestly (jumps up and down in anticipation).

 

[Phil]

Brilliant reconstruction Ob, looks great to me.

Just a suggestion, but perhaps one of you clever chaps could work out how long the harpoons were via the black bars on the length, and then couple that with angular vectoring to work out a provisional squid length?

If the black bars are regularly spaced and we can work out what the length of the harpoon is, and possibly cross-referencing the result with early Jan Messie photo, then a tentative length might be arrived at?

(Easy for me to say as I have not got a clue how to do this...)

 

[Cairnos]

Brilliant reconstruction Ob, looks great to me.

Just a suggestion, but perhaps one of you clever chaps could work out how long the harpoons were via the black bars on the length, and then couple that with angular vectoring to work out a provisional squid length?

If the black bars are regularly spaced and we can work out what the length of the harpoon is, and possibly cross-referencing the result with early Jan Messie photo, then a tentative length might be arrived at?

(Easy for me to say as I have not got a clue how to do this...)

Gaffs are most likely 3-4m. It looks as if the mantle slopes back down into the water which is probable forshortenning it.

 

[OB]

2,65 meters

 

[octobot]

[News]: Colossal Squid Delivered To Te Papa - newswire.co.nz


[SIZE=-2]Stuff.co.nz[/SIZE]
Colossal Squid Delivered To Te Papa
[SIZE=-1]newswire.co.nz, New Zealand - 5 hours ago[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Options concerning the possible displaying of the squid are still to be decided while scientists will begin examining the specimen over the next few days.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Massive squid to be shipped to museum [SIZE=-1]The Age[/SIZE][/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Colossal squid on its way to Te Papa [SIZE=-1]New Zealand Herald[/SIZE][/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Giant squid off to Te Papa [SIZE=-1]Stuff.co.nz[/SIZE][/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]TV3 News[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]all 8 news articles[/SIZE]

More...

 

[Clem]

Ob, I think your reconstruction of the inflated eyes is quite excellent.

 

[CapnNemo]

Hello all, here's some more Jazz from the BBC on the messie

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Colossal squid's headache for science

I concur on the subject of the reconstruction, excellent work Ob.

 

[Jean]

Interesting that Bruce Marshall doesn't believe it's a male........I rather hope it is! Apart for the value to science, I like the idea of a REALLY BIG MOMMA out there!!!!!!!

J

 

[Clem]

Bruce Marshall:

"It's extremely unlikely to be a male," says Marshall. "If it is a male, the mind boggles at how big the female would be."

Steve O'Shea (via MSNBC/Newsweek):

Three years ago [O'Shea] proposed that a colossal squid could grow as big as half a ton. The reaction of his colleagues? “The scientific community laughed at me,” he says.

Was Marshall a member of that chorus?

The MSNBC/Newsweek piece is definitely worth a read. This caught my eye:

Bennett hurried to the deck to confer with Geoff Dolan, an observer from the New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries who was on board. International law requires that anything caught in Antarctic waters must be kept onboard and documented to guard against overfishing. So Bennett really didn’t have a choice but to haul in the squid. “We decided to get him onboard in as good a condition as we could,” says Bennett. “If we’d released him, he wouldn’t have survived.” By then the crew had gaffed the creature in an attempt to get it off the line.

I've entertained some doubts as to just how distressed this animal really was when it appeared, and this latest version of events makes me wonder more. Perhaps it was dying, due to changes in pressure or temperature, or perhaps it was exhibiting some post-feeding torpor (food coma). The crew helpfully rendered any argument moot by stabbing the animal while the Captain was off conferring with the fisheries observer. (What constitutes being caught, anyhow? Does holding on to a hooked tootfish count?) Mr. Bennett is to be commended for knowing the scientific value of his find, but there's something about this narrative that doesn't add up.

Clem

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Was Marshall a member of that chorus?

Clem, he is actually a very good friend, and a world authority on Mollusca. No, he certainly wasn't one to do so (and if he did have a chuckle at the time then he wouldn't have said it out loud).

 

[sorseress]

Interesting that Bruce Marshall doesn't believe it's a male........I rather hope it is! Apart for the value to science, I like the idea of a REALLY BIG MOMMA out there!!!!!!!

J

You and me both! The Newsweek story is pretty good, it isn't the same old rehash we've been getting. I love this stuff!!!

 

[octobot]

Colossal squid's headache for science
[SIZE=-1]BBC News, UK - 15 hours ago[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]The squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) came into the institution this week after being caught last month by fishermen operating in Antarctic waters. ...[/SIZE]


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[SIZE=-2]Scoop.co.nz[/SIZE]
Te Papa Gets Largest Ever Squid Specimen
[SIZE=-1]Scoop.co.nz, New Zealand - Mar 13, 2007[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]A colossal squid, believed to be the first adult male specimen to be landed, was delivered to Te Papa yesterday. Unfrozen, the specimen is thought to weigh ...[/SIZE]


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[Rob Romero]

Its a Boy! A Dumb Boy, but a Boy!

According to the Newsweek article, the 33ft, 954lb. specimen is male. However, I was disappointed to hear Steve O'Shea deride the intelligence potential of Giant and Colossal Squids -especially given the brilliance of their smaller relatives!

Rob

 

[Clem]

They must have hauled up ~ 450kg, as they had plenty of opportunity to weigh it at Sanfords when it returned (egg on face if seriously exaggerated). However, this could include a tremendous amount of water in that mantle, making it very heavy. Then again, the deck shot (with skipper) is of a deflated squid, water gone, and this must be what was weighed.

Hi Steve,

This ambiguity is, in part what made me inquire about calculating a gross "wet weight" for the squid, allowing for degrees of mantle inflation and the presence of a lighter mass of ammonium chloride solution in the buoyancy chamber. Would that be a useful thing to know? I've been trying to visualize the interplay of the mantle, brachial crown and buccal at the moment of prey capture, and how much mass could be concentrated behind the beak. (Math is definitely not my strong suit, btw.) Please let me know if I'm barking up an empty tree!

Cheers,
Clem