3 March 2007
The really really big, colossal squid
Posted by Dave, on the Esperanza
The damaged Japanese whaling factory ship, the Nisshin Maru wasn't the only thing making recent news in the Ross Sea. New Zealand skipper John Bennett, longlining for toothfish in the Ross Sea, managed to hook his second colossal squid there too, on February 22nd. Now wait a moment... most people have heard of the giant squid, but whenever the colossal squid is mentioned, a sceptical eyebrow is raised. "What's next?" is the question, "the Really Ginormous Squid?"
Now, the colossal squid really does exist - and it's bigger than the giant squid! Current estimates put the colossal at 12–14m long - that's 39–46 feet. Its mantle is longer than the giant squid, but its tentacles are shorter. And instead of suckers, it's got rows of swivelling hooks on its tentacles. The colossal squid is thought to have the biggest eye in the animal kingdom.
From scars found on sperm whales skin, it's though that these massive toothed whales are the squid's major predator. Sperm whales are themselves owners of a few records - at 18m long, they're the largest toothed animal alive, and possess the largest brain of any living creature on earth (sorry humans). They can dive to a 2200 meters (7200 feet) and stay down for up to two hours.
But back to the colossal squid - at 10m long and 450kg, the recent catch was 150kg bigger than the next biggest specimen, found in 2003. It had been feeding on a toothfish when it got hooked, and was dragged up 1800m from below the surface. According to media quotes from Mr Bennett, "he was wrapped around a 30kg toothfish and he was just munching away on it". The same skipper previously landed the first known colossal squid in 2002, while fishing in the same area, which was about 250kg.
My other favourite quite from the media reports comes from Steve O'Shea, a squid expert at the Auckland University of Technology, who often does work with Greenpeace.
"I can assure you that this is going to draw phenomenal interest. It is truly amazing'. O'Shea added that if calamari were made from the squid's rings, they would be the size of tractor tires."
Sara, our media officer has fancied having a pet giant squid for some time now. Since the announcement of the colossal squid, all talk of "giant" has been left by the wayside. Sometimes, size does matter!
- Dave
Discovery: New Zealand fishermen catch colossal squid »
Stuff: Giant squid a colossal catch »
Nelson Mail: Deja vu for skipper who netted colossal squid »
Wikipedia: Colossal Squid »
Wikipedia: Giant Squid »
Wikipedia: Sperm whale »
Comments
I am so glad there are still mysteries of the deep. I'm sure it would be quite eerie to watch one of these down in the dark depths, even from the safety of a deep sea sub. Eyes the size of tractor tires? Yikes!
Let's not give the Japanese any ideas here to further their sham research. Next thing you know, they will want to investigate thousands of sperm whale stomachs for the existence of the colossal squid.
Posted by: Eric at March 3, 2007 11:55 AM
Ironic -or sad, you pick- that these new finds are so often by commercial fishermen. Fishing on 1800+meters depth for Patagonian/Antarctic Toothfish (Chilean Sea Bass, or McFish depending on where you buy it) in an ecosystem we know pi**-all about. How careless can we be? :/
Posted by: Pepijn at March 3, 2007 4:17 PM
Great work Mr Bennet, wonder how much other by-catch you've pulled out of our ocean without bragging about it in the media. Hope you still managed to pull a good catch :)
longling and bottom travling, killing indiscimanatly, all in a good days work
Posted by: shayne at March 7, 2007 10:28 AM
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