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60' Squid Washes up on Tasmanian Beach

Posted by timothy on from the wanna-wrestle dept.

Astrobirdr writes "CNN has a story about a giant squid that recently washed up on a Tasmanian beach. Some think it might be a new species." 60 feet long is enough for a lot of calimari.

6 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. Squid DO NOT eat whales, whales eat squid by nosferatu-man · · Score: 3, Informative

    Trust CNN to get the basic science wrong. If a whale has a sucker scar, it's from a desparate squid trying to escape, not from a brush with death. Look at the sizes of the things: how would a 250kg squid handle a 60 ton whale?

    Jeez.
    'j

    --
    To spur "enterprise Linux," Big Bang, the distributed two-phase commit.
    1. Re:Squid DO NOT eat whales, whales eat squid by jacoberrol · · Score: 2, Informative

      nosferatu-man is right. Squid do not hunt in packs. They are solitary animals. Additionally, squid have been found in the stomachs of whale that have washed ashore. See this link, which was posted in an earlier comment.

    2. Re:Squid DO NOT eat whales, whales eat squid by nosferatu-man · · Score: 3, Informative

      The sperm whale is the largest toothed whale in the world, and likely the largest predator ever on earth. They are known to primarialy eat smaller squid (although a 13' squid is only smaller in comparison to Architheuthis), as well as fish, and the occasional marine mammal, like seals or porpoises.

      'jfb

      --
      To spur "enterprise Linux," Big Bang, the distributed two-phase commit.
  2. calimari by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Even if they wanted to eat it, the ammonia content was too high, and it'd be inedible.

  3. Re:Some think it might be a new species NOT by Peter+T+Ermit · · Score: 2, Informative

    Umm... a "Giant Squid" can be Architeuthis dux, or A. harveyi, or A. martensi, or A. sanctipauli, or a half dozen others. What do you have against a new species being found?

  4. Re:Editors note by axolotl_farmer · · Score: 3, Informative

    Disclaimer: IAABBNAC (I am a biologist, but not an Cephalopodilog)

    This is not stupid. The giant squids (Architeuthidae) are a genus of squid within the 10-armed cephalopods. This means that all the species of this group are each others closest relatives.

    Pemberton probably means that this specimen is of an undescribed species of this group. 'Giant squid' is not a physical, but a taxonomical description.