…and this is a 
Big squid caught in Australia
Category: Cephalopods
Posted on: May 26, 2008 9:18 AM, by PZ Myers
The Aussies love to brag about their exotic fauna, so I probably shouldn't inflate their egos further, but they've done it again: they've netted another ginormous squid. This one is about 6 meters long, and 230 kg.
They always look so flabby and pathetic when they're shown flopped down dead on a boat's deck, don't they? It's like having human funeral viewings where they soak the body in a lake somewhere for a week — it's neither pretty nor representative.
Comments
Good morning, PZ.
Just curious, but what is that dude doing...looking for bus fare?
Posted by: BobbyEarle | May 26, 2008 9:30 AM
For the metrically-challenged among us, that's about 21 ft and 507 lbs. Wow.
Posted by: SC | May 26, 2008 9:42 AM
That's nothing... NZ's giant squid are much bigger than that...
Posted by: wazza | May 26, 2008 9:44 AM
Also, I think you should check out the Japanese footage of Taningia Danae... that's some amazing film of big squid in their natural habitat. They might give it to you. They certainly wouldn't give it to me... that said, I'm a pol sci student, so I couldn't really prove I needed it or would put it to a good use.
Posted by: wazza | May 26, 2008 9:48 AM
That's not a squid...THIS is a squid!
Posted by: LordJiro | May 26, 2008 9:49 AM
Not only are NZ's squid bigger but you can watch the sperm whales in waters that also contain giant squid just off the coast. With spectacular maritime alps in the background.
Posted by: Peter Ashby | May 26, 2008 10:09 AM
wazza:
you should check out TONMO.com they should have that, or at least a link to it. check out the video/picture archives.
Posted by: squidelicious | May 26, 2008 11:26 AM
I wonder if that's the Leviathin spoken about in the book of Job, the same book in which God rebukes people for failing to understand Him (or more accurately, failing to recognize their own inability to understand Him).
Posted by: interested observer | May 26, 2008 12:03 PM
Are you going to just sit there and let them kill your babies like that???!!!???
Posted by: Steve | May 26, 2008 12:07 PM
The man in the picture is exposing the beak of the squid. It's the only structure in that whole gigantic jelly mess that will still be around after decomposition.
Posted by: Maria | May 26, 2008 12:15 PM
Did the guy in the green shirt evolve from the squid?
What nonsense.
Posted by: huxleyiteimnot | May 26, 2008 12:50 PM
Leviathan = crocodile, behemoth = hippo.
Posted by: David Marjanović, OM | May 26, 2008 12:54 PM
No, of course not. What's your point?
Posted by: Kseniya | May 26, 2008 1:16 PM
It's like having human funeral viewings where they soak the body in a lake somewhere for a week -- it's neither pretty nor representative.
I'm just glad that Ol' Uncle Briney aint around to hear you say that.
Posted by: tincture | May 26, 2008 1:53 PM
I visited Kseniya in Western Africa. It's a beautiful region, and they also had squid there off the coast.
Posted by: livingstone | May 26, 2008 1:55 PM
Pish. Where are the murderous claws? Mere six metre long emissaries of the Deep Ones no longer impress me. I demand more nightmarish cephalopods!
Posted by: Hematite | May 26, 2008 4:43 PM
You know you've been on the Internet too long when you see that picture and all you can think of is squid goatse....
Posted by: Ben | May 26, 2008 6:11 PM
Hey, those other recently famous big squid were caught by New Zealand vessels. Aussie is already claiming Scott Dixon, they can't take our weird creatures of the deep!
Posted by: Dave Arthur | May 26, 2008 6:14 PM
Oh wait... they can have this one. :-)
Posted by: Dave Arthur | May 26, 2008 6:35 PM
what do they do with these squid? are they eaten?
Posted by: karen marie | May 26, 2008 6:53 PM
We also boast the biggest blowflies.
Fear us. Hell hath no fury like an Aussie scorned.
Posted by: CoFfeX | May 26, 2008 7:53 PM
What's up with the sudden bonanza of dead, giant squid?
Posted by: pmomma | May 26, 2008 8:07 PM
Ugh! Drive-by stoopid! Thats uncalled for!
I'll be down that part of Victoria in August for a wedding. I'll have to make sure I try the calamari.
Posted by: Charlie Foxtrot | May 26, 2008 9:45 PM
It should be noted that giant squid, unlike colossal squid, aren't edible. And also that the person who actually caught the squid was a kiwi working in the australian fishing industry.
Posted by: wazza | May 27, 2008 1:04 AM
Really, wazza? Why would it not be edible?
Posted by: cath | May 27, 2008 4:50 AM
Posted by: Fernando Magyar | May 27, 2008 7:23 AM
Does anyone else get the feeling really big squid should be protected, like really big trees in old growth forests?
Im against killing cephalopods at all for (at least one of) the same reasons I am against monkey eating. But there is something extra-sad about those big fellas.
Posted by: Pubcat | May 27, 2008 10:23 AM
Why, oh why could they not leave this amazing cephalopod free to roam the briny deep? I assume that's what he does, if given his druthers.
Posted by: Mooser | May 27, 2008 5:18 PM
Good grief,
I go away for a couple of days and come back to find the site is displaying squid porn. Okay, I know its the critters mouth but it does look a little like, um, you know, that the squiddy is getting, um, fisted.
Posted by: Bride of Shrek | May 28, 2008 2:14 AM
Holy cow! I have never seen a picture of an octopus that big.
Posted by: Tyler | May 28, 2008 4:50 PM