Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)

You might remember that last week, I wrote about the colossal squid, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, that had been captured in Antarctica's Ross Sea in early February. This squid, which is three times the length of the average bus (see graphic, left; courtesy of BBC News), was frozen and transported to the national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington, New Zealand.

Unfortunately for squid afficionados, any research on this specimen will probably be one year away because the museum's "wet" collections are being rennovated to accomodate the large animal. Only after there is an approriate storage facility to embalm and store this animal will it finally be thawed out.

"It's got to be thawed out slowly. You can't put hot water on it, you've just got to thaw it out naturally," says Te Papa's mollsuca collections manager Bruce Marshall.

The animal will be placed in a large fixing tank before it thaws out.

"What I mean by a fixing tank is a tank that you lay it out in, in a natural position, and you then make all the adjustments -- align all the arms, pack out the body and all of that. Then you have it in a, say, 5% formalin solution.

"It will require the biggest tank of anything we've got."

Scientists are very interested to learn the creature's gender; and then we may get a little closer to understanding just how big these squid can grow. Contrary to initial news reports, Marshall thinks that based on its size -- estimated to be 10m (33ft) in length -- it is probably female, since female squid are often larger than males.

"It's extremely unlikely to be a male," says Marshall. "If it is a male, the mind boggles at how big the female would be."

Cited story.

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