Colossal Squid to Provide Great Insight on Little Known Species

It was a normal fishing day for fishing boat Captain John Bennett as he fished in the Antarctic Ocean when he made the catch of his life. Bennett noticed something rising to the surface of the water that appeared to be caught in his lines, it turned out to be the elusive giant, or colossal squid.

Bennett and his crew were surprised and very excited to see that they had actually caught such a enormous squid. This rare catch ended up being the biggest squid ever caught weighing in at over 1000 pounds and measuring 33 feet long. It was later determined that if this squid was used to make calamari, the rings would each be the size of a tractor tire.

Due to International fishing law, the squid had to be brought on board, while still alive. The fishermen tried to free the squid of the line that it was caught on but could not. The squid died on board the ship. "If we'd released him, he wouldn't have survived," said Bennett.

Many scientists have been searching for video footage of this great, elusive creature and now they have a chance to get it. A creature like this has not been caught on video and a very intense battle to determine who will be able to air the footage on television had begun. Several news stations picked up on the story soon after the animal was recovered, causing the frenzy for the video.

Little, if anything, is known about the colossal squid. The species was not known to even exist until 1925. A few have been recovered but never as big as the one caught by Bennett. Usually all that is found is a single tentacle or a mostly decomposed body. This is one of the rare cases when they have been caught alive.

Bennett and his crew have supposedly been offered millions of dollars for the footage of the squid. He had sold the video to an Auckland University of Technology company before many of the offers came in. Bennett will not share how much he was paid.

The squid was preserved on Bennett's boat for two weeks and has been frozen ever since their return from the sea. The squid will be brought to the Museum of New Zealand in Wellington within the next week and will be stored there.

The analysis of the body of this colossal squid should at least double the information that is currently known about these animals. The amazing part of this is that many scientists did not believe that these animals existed in the size of the one discovered by Bennett. There is no telling that this one is the biggest either which makes this discovery very intriguing to scientists.

Steve O'Shea, director of the Earth and Oceanic Sciences Research Institute at the Auckland University of Technology has explained that the likelihood of a bigger squid is very good. The one discovered by Bennett was a male, and female squid are typically twice as big as males.

This discovery is certainly the most important made in the area of the colossal squid. The data collected from this specimen will be monumental in the research of this little known animal and will provide much insight into what they are like.

Cited:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17506125/site/newsweek/