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Metropolis Reality Forums Ť 250kg Giant Squid Washes up in Tasmania ť

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   250kg Giant Squid Washes up in Tasmania

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Topic: 250kg Giant Squid Washes up in Tasmania (Read 692 times)

Addams
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250kg Giant Squid Washes up in Tasmania
« on: Jul 22^nd, 2002, 4:16pm »

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Very cool story on cnn.com (July 22, 2002) about this giant squid that has washed up on shores of Tasmania. Very very rare creature. Can attack whales successfully. Their eyes are upto 18 inches wide! They are so rare it's hard for them to mate (my goodness at 250 kg surely it's hard to mate at the best of times with all those tentacles - hmmmm tentacles could be fun - oops unfortunate diversion :devil:

) In any event, this is a very cool find:

HOBART, Tasmania -- Scientists in Australia are investigating what may be a new species of giant squid, after one of the deep sea creatures washed up on a Tasmanian beach over the weekend.

The squid weighs up to 250 kilograms and, including tentacles, measured almost 18 meters (60 feet), the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported on Monday.

Only two other specimens have been found on Tasmanian shores, in 1986 and 1991, the report said.

Scientists at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery were studying the squid to determine if it was a new species after identifying several new features.

"It's definitely of the giant squid group, which is exciting enough," the museum's senior curator of Zoology, David Pemberton said in the ABC report.

"But it does have some features about it which we're unsure about and we've called some specialists in from university to help decide, but it looks like it could be different.

The squid will be used for research and will go on show next month.

Myth and legend
CNN NewsPass VIDEO
Scientists in Australia are investigating what may be a new species of giant squid (July 22)

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The giant squid, of genus Architeuthis, has been the stuff of myth and legend for more than two thousand years. But little is known about the animal with less than 50 of the creatures spotted in the past century.

Because of the low number of observations, scientists have struggled to build up a profile of the giant squid, discovering only in the last five years how it reproduces.

It is believed they rarely have an opportunity to mate, and live isolated lives, but it is still unknown where the squid fits on the food chain.

The giant squid is a carnivorous mollusk with a beak-like mouth strong enough to cut through a steel cable and its eyes are the largest in the animal kingdom -- growing up to 45 centimeters (18 inches) wide.

The giant squid is believed to feed on, among other things, the world's biggest animals with several eyewitness stories from fisherman who have seen the squid in fierce battles with whales.

Dead whales have been found washed up on beaches with large sucker marks on their bodies, apparently from squid attacks.

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east
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Re: 250kg Giant Squid Washes up in Tasmania
« Reply #1 on: Jul 22^nd, 2002, 10:19pm »

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i saw it on the news. all i can say is "wow, is that squid big!" Shocked

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read, study, reflect, write, read, study, reflect, spell check, write

Addams
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Re: 250kg Giant Squid Washes up in Tasmania
« Reply #2 on: Jul 22^nd, 2002, 10:37pm »

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Let;s see if this picture thing works.

according to another article - no one has seen a giant squid in the wild, so far. I find this equally amazing.

« Last Edit: Jul 22^nd, 2002, 10:41pm by Addams »

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Tsunami
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Re: 250kg Giant Squid Washes up in Tasmania
« Reply #3 on: Jul 26^th, 2002, 2:49am »

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Yeah.. 60 feet long, weighs 550 pounds, and NOBODY HAS EVER SEEN ONE ALIVE.. well, no one credible, there have always been stories from sailors and such..

But think about that.. what else could be swimming around out there that we haven't found yet? Loch Ness Monster anyone?

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Rhune
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Re: 250kg Giant Squid Washes up in Tasmania
« Reply #4 on: Jul 26^th, 2002, 8:56am »

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I have read a few times, speculation that the "giant great white shark" may still live way down deep. They are supposed to grow to 50+ feet long.. *shudder*

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Rhune
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Re: 250kg Giant Squid Washes up in Tasmania
« Reply #5 on: Jul 26^th, 2002, 8:58am »

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Also, in college I had a friend with a book of things that had washed up from the ocean - odd corpses of animals. One was this partial creature.. all they had was the head and neck, but the neck was about 20 feet long and it had this odd head on top with a beak-like mouth. They had no clue what it was, but they had a picture of it. *shudders again* There's some creepy stuff in there still, way down deep. Let's hope it stays there. Grin

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Tsunami
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Re: 250kg Giant Squid Washes up in Tasmania
« Reply #6 on: Jul 26^th, 2002, 5:49pm »

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Laugh, in the movies dinosaurs run rampant through San Diego and kill everyone.. but in the real world we'd probably dissect them and find a cure for glaucoma Wink

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