Rare Squid Could Be Largest Ever Hooked
Massive Catch Has Rings the Size of Truck Tires
By RAY LILLEY
AP
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Feb. 22) – A fishing crew has caught a colossal squid that could weigh a half-ton and prove to be the biggest specimen ever landed, a fisheries official said Thursday.
The squid, weighing an estimated 990 pounds and about 39 feet long, took two hours to land in Antarctic waters, New Zealand Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton said.
The fishermen were catching Patagonian toothfish, sold under the name Chilean sea bass, south of New Zealand “and the squid was eating a hooked toothfish when it was hauled from the deep,” Anderton said.
The fishing crew and a fisheries official on board their ship estimated the length and weight of the squid: Detailed, official measurements have not been made. The date when the colossus was caught also was not disclosed.
Colossal squid, known by the scientific name Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, are estimated to grow up to 46 feet long and have long been one of the most mysterious creatures of the deep ocean. If original estimates are correct, the squid would be 330 pounds heavier than the next biggest specimen ever found. “
Here is the full article.
Why do they have to kill the world largest squid ?!?!
This is a tragedy 🙁 🙁 🙁
This capture which seemed to occur incidentally and not because the fishermen were hunting squids comes soon after the first video was captured in the general area.
One point not mentioned is that these creatures clearly have been around a long time, but now are becoming easier to encounter – perhaps it is because their deep sea food sources are becoming scarcer and so they are now becoming more active in the daytime and becoming more visible.
Caught by a Fischer!