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Live Giant Squid Dissection Tomorrow

Posted by timothy on from the this-can't-happen-often-enough dept.

BoogieChile writes "The dissection of a 245 kilo giant squid caught off the coast of Portland, Victoria in May will take place tomorrow at the Museum of Victoria. In a first for the museum, the event is open to the public and will also be streamed live to the internet from the University's website, starting at 0130GMT on the 17th of July."

95 comments

  1. Seems inhumane by Teese · · Score: 4, Funny

    You'd think they'd euthanize the squid first.

    --
    "I'm a Genius!"*


    *Not an actual Genius
    1. Re:Seems inhumane by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought they were going to dissect the pet squid of a living giant human.

    2. Re:Seems inhumane by SpaceLifeForm · · Score: 4, Funny

      No, they can't, because they want it to be streaming.

      --
      You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.
    3. Re:Seems inhumane by evil+agent · · Score: 1

      I prefer organic calamari, thank you.

      --
      End transmission.
    4. Re:Seems inhumane by agent4256 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      hopefully their servers will be able to handle the number of connections... unlike apples' did on the day the iphone 3g came out...

    5. Re:Seems inhumane by Paranatural · · Score: 5, Informative

      The dissection of a living creature is called a vivisection, actually. If you are dissecting something, it's generally accepted that it's already dead.

      The More You Know!

      (Yes, I am aware the GP was a joke)

    6. Re:Seems inhumane by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      The More You Know!

      Always speak in complete sentences. Fragments? Never.

    7. Re:Seems inhumane by Nutria · · Score: 1

      I prefer organic calamari

      As opposed to inorganic calamari?

      --
      "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
    8. Re:Seems inhumane by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The dissection of a living creature is called a vivisection, actually. If you are dissecting something, it's generally accepted that it's already dead.

      Then, in 1982 or so, I guess I vivisected a frog in high school biology class.

      I thought that it was not rare to dissect a pithed animal.

      Actually reading TFA, I think it is clear that the squid is dead. The Slashdot story headline is unfortunate; reading it, I actually thought they were going to dissect a live, pithed squid. But really it will be a live streaming broadcast of a dead squid dissection. (I think the OP understood this and was making a joke. But I didn't understand it, you insensitive clod!)

    9. Re:Seems inhumane by SEWilco · · Score: 1

      Nah, as the /. headline would be accurate, we know then it would have referred to live vivisection instead of live dissection.

  2. First look by Zosden · · Score: 4, Funny

    Did anyone else think they meant they were going to dissect a live squid.

    1. Re:First look by Sporkinum · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yes.. I figure they would have gotten some interrogators from Abu Gahraib since the squid's mantle vaguely looks like a turban.

      --
      "He's lost in a 'floyd hole"
    2. Re:First look by lalas · · Score: 2, Informative

      That'd be a vivisection.

    3. Re:First look by Mr.+Droopy+Drawers · · Score: 1

      yeah, I did... The article didn't describe it that way...

      --

      To Copy from One is Plagiarism; To Copy from Many is Research.

    4. Re:First look by 8282now · · Score: 4, Funny

      Did anyone else think they meant they were going to dissect a live squid.

      I was picturing some of the Old Ones (Lovecraftian) having something to gurgle about that! ;)

    5. Re:First look by mweather · · Score: 2, Funny

      Not for long.

    6. Re:First look by hobbit · · Score: 1

      I think it would have been better phrased "Live Dissection of Giant Squid Tomorrow". Just in case the reader is unaware of the vivisection/dissection distinction ;)

      --
      "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something" - Plato
    7. Re:First look by dpilot · · Score: 1

      Forget Lovecraft, has anyone told Bruce Schneier, yet?

      As a matter of fact, before posting this I checked his web site, and he already knows. I guess you can't beat Bruce Schneier to a squid. Add that to his list of Chuck-Norris-isms.

      --
      The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
    8. Re:First look by Greyfox · · Score: 2, Insightful

      They want to dissect it. If they wanted to hook up jumper cables and shock its testicles, THEN they'd get some interrogators from Abu Gahraib.

      --

      I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

    9. Re:First look by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Aha! So the rumor that an octopus has eight testicles is TRUE! ... Well, that's what my grade-school teacher insisted, anyway. But what did she know. Oh, you squid.

    10. Re:First look by TriggerFin · · Score: 1

      What, and add a word? No way! Besides, "live dissection" could still be vivisection.

      "Giant Squid Dissection Live Tomorrow"

      --
      Here's your sig.
    11. Re:First look by hobbit · · Score: 1

      Indeed; that's much better!

      --
      "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something" - Plato
    12. Re:First look by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, I was thinking it would be kick ass to watch a squid throw scientists around the room like the alien did in Independence Day.

  3. afterwards by electricbern · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... the museum will be hosting, in celebration of the event, a squid buffet for invitees.

    --
    alias possession='chmod 666 satan && ls /dev > il && tail daemon.log'
    1. Re:afterwards by bsDaemon · · Score: 1

      When I was in AP Bio about 8 years ago, our lab manual for the squid dissection contained instructions for making calamari from the squid afterwords. of course, our squids had been soaked in formaldehyde or whatever it is that they use nowadays for quite some time.

    2. Re:afterwards by spun · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Ugh. I hope not. Giant squid supposedly tastes repulsive. From the wiki article:

      Giant squid and some other large squid species maintain neutral buoyancy in seawater through an ammonium chloride solution which flows throughout their body and is lighter than seawater. This differs from the method of flotation used by fish, which involves a gas-filled swim bladder. The solution tastes somewhat like salmiakki and makes giant squid unattractive for general human consumption.

      --
      - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
    3. Re:afterwards by Botched · · Score: 1

      My mom's bio class, she makes sure to provide the squid herself to get around this. Cant have a good squid dissection without lemon wedges and hot oil waiting!

    4. Re:afterwards by joshtheitguy · · Score: 1

      Well the fine folks of Scandinavia, Northern Germany and the Netherlands might appreciate the taste but to me that would be the most repulsive meal that could ever be served... ever.

    5. Re:afterwards by mcpkaaos · · Score: 1

      Does your mom happen to teach 8th grade Biology in Vancouver, WA? My bio teacher did the same thing. She even breaded them on the spot!

      To this day I won't touch calamari, heh.

      --
      It goes from God, to Jerry, to me.
    6. Re:afterwards by Jherek+Carnelian · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Regular-sized squid are actually the most plentiful source of protein on the planet, far out-stripping cattle, chicken and tuna. If we would just eat them instead...

    7. Re:afterwards by exi1ed0ne · · Score: 1

      I ordered some salmiakki once due to my love of licorice. I had been warned it's an acquired taste, but I thought what the heck.

      For the rest of the day my mouth tasted like a cat's piss. Vile stuff.

      --
      Pessimists.net - as if life wasn't depressing enough.
    8. Re:afterwards by Per+Wigren · · Score: 1

      How can one NOT love the taste of salmiac liquorice? It's the best candy ever!

      I don't think I'd appreciate salmiac-tasting squid though, or any kind of squid.

      --
      My other account has a 3-digit UID.
    9. Re:afterwards by camperdave · · Score: 0

      Regular-sized squid are actually the most plentiful source of protein on the planet

      Even more plentiful than plankton? krill? rice?

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    10. Re:afterwards by Daimanta · · Score: 1

      I love salmiak. You have a sort of candy which is hard on the outside but has salmiakpowder inside. If you chew through the hard part all the salmiak powder lands on your tongue and you cringe a bit. But then you get the lovely taste of salmiak in your mouth. I think that's what I'm going to buy on Saturday.

      --
      Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
    11. Re:afterwards by Jherek+Carnelian · · Score: 2, Informative

      Ok meat. Although I doubt rice qualifies either way since it is 10:1 carbs:protein.

    12. Re:afterwards by Apotekaren · · Score: 1

      In Finland they had(have?) for sale Salmiak-marinated steaks for the BBQ-season. And while it was delicious(you'd have to like salmiak first), you couldn't eat more then two. It was just so salty to the taste. I'm not going to judge salmiak-tasting squid just yet, though. (I usually eat 3-4 steaks of that size when we have a barbeque-party)

      --
      She: Hey, are you a traitor? Me: No, I'm atheist.
    13. Re:afterwards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      hey, some people like that stuff. besides... wikipedia?

    14. Re:afterwards by commodoresloat · · Score: 3, Funny

      you're just not using enough wasabi.

    15. Re:afterwards by khallow · · Score: 1

      Wikipedians as a whole probably do not like it.

    16. Re:afterwards by jollyreaper · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Regular-sized squid are actually the most plentiful source of protein on the planet, far out-stripping cattle, chicken and tuna. If we would just eat them instead...

      You forgot bugs. They're the hands-down winner, not just in terms of bio-mass but in human diet, too. Man eating bugs!

      --
      Kwisatz Haderach
      Sell the spice to CHOAM
      This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
    17. Re:afterwards by rachit · · Score: 3, Funny

      For the rest of the day my mouth tasted like a cat's piss. Vile stuff.

      And, er, how would you know what cat's piss tastes like?

    18. Re:afterwards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, but it's the squid part, not the ammonium chloride part, that makes them repulsive.

    19. Re:afterwards by nacturation · · Score: 3, Funny

      You forgot bugs. They're the hands-down winner, not just in terms of bio-mass but in human diet, too. Man eating bugs!

      What about man eating man-eating bugs? It's like a klein buffet!
       

      --
      Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
    20. Re:afterwards by exi1ed0ne · · Score: 1

      "You can't just open the book of my life and jump in the middle." -Mal (Firefly)

      ;)

      --
      Pessimists.net - as if life wasn't depressing enough.
    21. Re:afterwards by pragma_x · · Score: 1

      Its funny you mention that.

      In Iceland*, they have a means of preparing shark that pretty much involves letting it rot for a while first. The interesting part is that said species of shark is inedible as fresh due to the ammonia content.

      So in theory, one might be able to prepare Giant Squid H%C3%A1karl. Yummy.

      (*Okay, not quite the Netherlands, but pretty damn close if you ask me)

    22. Re:afterwards by pragma_x · · Score: 1

      For the rest of the day my mouth tasted like a cat's piss. Vile stuff.

      Yea, but I've heard that its one helluva drug.

  4. Can't wait.... by NuclearError · · Score: 5, Funny

    I am suddenly thinking of the Far Side cartoon with the heart surgeons standing around a patient under the knife, and one says "OK, we'll vote on it. Who here says that the heart has four ventricles?"

    --
    Nuclear engineers build weapons. Civil engineers build targets.
  5. Dissecting a live web caching server is risky by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    On the other hand, when your squid stops caching, sometimes dissection is the best way to troubleshoot the problem.

  6. non-live version? by Taibhsear · · Score: 1

    Anyone know if there will be a recap of this for viewing afterward? I will be in class at the time and I doubt I can persuade the professor to show it during lecture...

    1. Re:non-live version? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://www.legittorrents.info/index.php?page=torrent-details&id=8313658745ed780e7bf8ad575ab01fe994c73c97

  7. squidse.cx by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is that picture intentionally reminiscent of...?

  8. More appropriate would be the farside cartoon by SargentDU · · Score: 5, Funny

    where the scientist and layman are in a tree and it looks like a giant squid is reaching up from the ground with its arms and the layman says "Can't climb a tree? You are the one who said it couldn't leave the water!"

  9. Obligitory Dr. Quinn (Sealab 2021) quote by TheDarkener · · Score: 2, Funny

    "That giant squid ain't messin' round!"

    --
    It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
  10. Everyone Please come by between 7-10pm. by ForestGrump · · Score: 2, Funny

    Everyone, PLEASE remember to come by the museum for a squid buffet and all the dipping sauces!

    Please remember it is 7-10PM. If you come after 10pm, we will have to-go boxes of squid by the front entrance.

    PLEASE come everyone!

    Thank you,
    Museum of Victoria Management

    --
    Is it true that more people vote for the winner of American Idol, than vote for the president? -Ali G.
  11. squids by darrinallen · · Score: 0

    I wonder what scientist will disect? Biologist or zoologist

    1. Re:squids by Nutria · · Score: 1

      I wonder what scientist will disect? Biologist or zoologist

      Not very many Giant Squid have taken enough schooling to become biologists or zoologists.

      --
      "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
    2. Re:squids by bmo · · Score: 1

      "Not very many Giant Squid have taken enough schooling to become biologists or zoologists."

      What would be really impressive is a giant squid that passed ABCRS and became proctologist.

      --
      BMO

    3. Re:squids by pragma_x · · Score: 1

      You'd need someone with an eye for science, but an intimate understanding of edible sea-creatures, and larger-than-life representations of the same.

      Alton Brown is clearly the best choice here.

  12. you must not live near norwegians by CaptainNerdCave · · Score: 2, Funny

    one word: lutefisk

    1. Re:you must not live near norwegians by IrquiM · · Score: 1

      Considering the fact that it's full of lye (or used to be), it actually tastes rather ok, if you eat it with sidedishes like bacon, potatoes, peas etc. And don't forget the akevitt!

      Mmmmmm... akevitt!

      Ok, it's the akevitt that makes it ok! Happy now?

      --
      This is blinging
    2. Re:you must not live near norwegians by dkf · · Score: 1

      one word: lutefisk

      Nah. Surstromming. Anything that smells that bad and where the tins are inclined to explode (the wikipedia article claims that that's a myth, but that's just not true) is just a hazard waiting to happen...

      --
      "Little does he know, but there is no 'I' in 'Idiot'!"
  13. Giant? by rossdee · · Score: 2, Interesting

    245 Kg doesn't sound like much of a 'giant' to me. Is it a juvenile?

    1. Re:Giant? by spicate · · Score: 1

      Have you seen a normal squid? Half a ton of squid sounds pretty giant to me!

      From Wikipedia , the source of all truth and wisdom: "Maximum weight is estimated at 275 kg (606 lb) for females and 150 kg (331 lb) for males."

    2. Re:Giant? by spicate · · Score: 1

      Have you seen a normal squid? Half a ton of squid sounds pretty giant to me!

      From Wikipedia , the source of all truth and wisdom: "Maximum weight is estimated at 275 kg (606 lb) for females and 150 kg (331 lb) for males."

      Err, not half a ton exactly, but still a lot...

    3. Re:Giant? by treeves · · Score: 1

      It may well, but 245 kg does not sound like half a ton. It's a little over a quarter of a ton (2000 lbs), and a little under a quarter of a tonne (1000 kg).

      --
      ...the future crusty old bastards are already drinking the Kool-Aid.
    4. Re:Giant? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Assuming you can trust wikipedia as a source, female giant squid max out somewhere around 275Kg.

    5. Re:Giant? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you kidding? A 500 lb squid? How big does it have to be to impress you?

    6. Re:Giant? by lowe0 · · Score: 1

      If I ever encounter a squid that's double my weight and then some, I'm going to let it call itself whatever the hell it wants.

    7. Re:Giant? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      245 Kg doesn't sound like much of a 'giant' to me. Is it a juvenile?

      You're an American, aren't you? ;)

    8. Re:Giant? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      From wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_squid):
      "Maximum weight is estimated at 275 kg (606 lb) for females and 150 kg (331 lb) for males."

    9. Re:Giant? by zippthorne · · Score: 2, Funny

      it's, "quarterre of a tonne."

      --
      Can you be Even More Awesome?!
    10. Re:Giant? by belmolis · · Score: 1

      There's an even larger species called the Colossal Squid. The largest known specimen weighed 495kg.

    11. Re:Giant? by Smivs · · Score: 1

      Te Papa museum in New Zealand recently did a live webcast of a Collosal Squid dissection. Details and pics can be found at
      their blog

      --
      Smivs on the intertubes!
    12. Re:Giant? by Macgrrl · · Score: 1

      According to today's news reports of the disection, the squid was described as an immature female. They are believed to grow much larger but this is the largest whole squid retrieved to date.

      The article also commented that they were canibals - and that the males had a penis like a nail gun - mated at speed and then fled to avoid being eaten by the females.

      From this I would suggest that should you decide to hook up with an old one - windex is obviously thier drink of choice.

      --
      Sara
      Designer, Gamer, Macgrrl in an XP World
    13. Re:Giant? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They should drop the stupid 'tonne' name. A thousand Kilograms is a MEGAgram.

  14. Re:First look Maybe it's a combined operation? by davidsyes · · Score: 1

    DiViSection?

    VivDisection?

    It starts one way, and ends another?

    --
    Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
  15. Dissection? Is that what they call it. by zymano · · Score: 1

    Chinese call it STIR FRY.

  16. Better get splunk by kwabbles · · Score: 2, Funny

    If one of their squid logfiles is 245k... imagine going through a month's worth of that to find out when Johnson in Accounting visited xxxanimalfarm.com.

    --
    Just disrupt the deflector shield with a tachyon burst.
  17. Monty Squidthon by Darth+Hubris · · Score: 3, Funny

    Mrs Premise: I dissected the squid yesterday; took 6 hours.
    Mrs. Conclusion: 6 hours!?
    Mrs. Premise: Wouldn't hold still...

    --
    The party's over ... the drink ... and the luck ... ran out
  18. These things are very rare to catch by DragonTHC · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I don't think scientists have ever seen one in the wild.

    That should say a thing or two about their rarity.

    What else lurks in the deep that we don't know about?

    --
    They're using their grammar skills there.
    1. Re:These things are very rare to catch by kalirion · · Score: 2, Funny

      A true scientist would consider the obvious explanation that live giant squids don't exist.

    2. Re:These things are very rare to catch by AdamThor · · Score: 1

      What else lurks in the deep that we don't know about?

      THE SHADOW KNOWS!

      --
      -- "Oh. This guy again."
    3. Re:These things are very rare to catch by cforceleritas · · Score: 1

      I'm pretty sure that was a joke, but evidence exists in the form of giant tentacles and decomposed enormous squid carcasses washing up on shore.

    4. Re:These things are very rare to catch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which is evidence for the existence of giant tentacles and decomposed enormous squid carcasses.

    5. Re:These things are very rare to catch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If they live deeper than we fish and explore and they don't float very well when they die, there could be billions of them down there and we'd never know. Right?

    6. Re:These things are very rare to catch by giostickninja · · Score: 1

      Wikipedia knows better. A group of Japanese scientists took some pictures of one by following sperm whales to thier hunting grounds. Later the same group got a giant squid on video http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUST14899720061222/

  19. Embedded video by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ugh, what's with the embedded video shit?

    I don't care much for Flash but it is the only thing that generally works on most machines.

    Come, join the modern age you dweebs!

  20. For some reason... by anarkavre · · Score: 1

    this picture resembles a vagina with tentacles. I also thought the Sarlacc in Star Wars resembled a vagina with teeth. The Special Edition made this even worse with the beak and tentacles. Also this doesn't help my strange imagination.

    --
    "Without curiosity and knowledge, the mind is a vast void. Without the mind, curiosity and knowledge are nonexistent."
    1. Re:For some reason... by LunaticTippy · · Score: 1

      With your imagination it is fortunate you aren't aware of Vagina Dentata

      --
      Man, you really need that seminar!
    2. Re:For some reason... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Paging Dr. Freud, paging Dr. Freud

  21. You forgot algae and plankton by EmbeddedJanitor · · Score: 1

    Dried spirulina is approx 55% protein. Dried beef is approx 70%.

    --
    Engineering is the art of compromise.
  22. 5th segment by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Scientists have long wondered why the beak doesn't injure the squid itself as is uses it.

    Dryfoot: It is the Power of Kroll.

    Kroll, Kroll, Kroll, Kroll, Kroll, ...

  23. download locaion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For those of you who can't, or don't want to download it from the Australian site, here is a torrent hosted from EU sites. Should be faster if you're not in .au or .nz .

    http://www.mininova.org/tor/1608574

  24. downloadable by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://thepiratebay.org/tor/4303287/Museum_Victoria_Giant_Squid_Dissection