Fisherman hauled the world's largest squid ever caught out of the icy Antarctic waters last month. Since then, it has been kept on ice while scientists ponder how to prepare it for permanent display at the University of New Zealand. Larger than giant squid, colossal squid range from 40-65 feet long. This specimen weighed 1,090 lbs and was 33 feet long. Now the scientists have run into a problem: the frozen squid is so large that by the time the center of the beast defrosts, the outer flesh will have rotted.
Colossal squid captured, mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni
The logical solution? Throw the world's largest known squid in the world's largest microwave oven, of course. The one ton microwave was created for physics experiments but could be adapted for reheating a sea monster. Just like cooking a Hot Pocket... only filled with 1,000 lbs of squid.
No final decision has been made on how to defrost the colossal squid, which has eyes as big as dinner plates. If anyone made calamari from the beast, they would be as big as tractor tires. But there are no plans to eat it, unfortunately, partly because the flesh contains so much ammonia it would taste like floor cleaner.
The squid was caught when it started eating a Patagonian toothfish hooked at a depth of 1,800 meters on a longline of a New Zealand fishing trawler.
Because things are only in perspective when compared to a dump truck.
Zooillogix
Don't Stick Your Fingers in the Cage
Video of the Week
Kunekune Pigs
Bleiman Brothers Profile
In the wild, Andrew feeds on fish, sponges, small crustaceans, nematode worms and protozoans.
Benny's diet is very specialized, consisting mainly of the interior of Ramy nuts, nectar from the Traveller's Palm tree, some fungi and insect grubs. He is also known to raid coconut plantations, and has been seen eating lychees and mangoes, which are also plantation crops.
Search
Recent Posts
- Julia + Hawaii + Your Friends = Good Times + Great Oldies
- Turtles Are Not Pure Evil
- Zombies schmombies. Let's talk parasites.
- So, you think you're smart?
- Hot Molting Action
- Spectacular Deep Sea Squid Footage
- Meth Snails Feel the Need... the Need Not to Extend Their Breathing Tubes Lest They Get Poked
- Time-lapse photography is the best!
- Life cycle / Cycle of life
- Death by Ass Eel (not) Debunked
Recent Comments
- سعودي كول 6666 on Monster Toad Captured!
- İnsan Kaynakları on Thousands of New Species Discovered on Tiny Island
- سعودي انحراف on Winter (the Dolphin) Swims with Prosthetic Flipper
- سعودي انحراف on Winter (the Dolphin) Swims with Prosthetic Flipper
- سعودي انحراف on Winter (the Dolphin) Swims with Prosthetic Flipper
- Tomas on Winter (the Dolphin) Swims with Prosthetic Flipper
- folklore on Hookworms Are Nature's Claritin
- Angel on Winter (the Dolphin) Swims with Prosthetic Flipper
- Maria on Winter (the Dolphin) Swims with Prosthetic Flipper
- patty on Winter (the Dolphin) Swims with Prosthetic Flipper
Archives
- September 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
Blogroll
Look How Important We Are
View blog authority
Read the super-informative Interview with the Bleiman Brothers
World's Largest Zoo and Shot Glass Collection
Now accepting donations in exchange for recognition and fame on Zooillogix!
Currently Featured: Seattle Aquarium from Jason Brunet of JeffTheFish.com - the official website of baby rats!
The List:
Adventure Aquarium
Aquarium of the Bay
Baton Rouge Zoo
Birch Aquarium at Scripps
Bronx Zoo
Brookfield Zoo
Cincinnati Zoo
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
Florida Aquarium
Georgia Aquarium
Honolulu Zoo
Houston Aquarium
Knoxville Zoo
Lincoln Park Zoo
Los Angeles Zoo
Louisville Zoo
Maritime Center in Norwalk, CT
Milwaukee Zoo
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Mystic Aquarium
National Aquarium
New England Aquarium
New York Aquarium
Newport Aquarium
North Carolina Aquarium
North Carolina Zoological Society
Oakland Zoo
Oregon Coast Aquarium
Philadelphia Zoo
Pittsburgh Zoo
Rio Grande Zoo
Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies
San Antonio Zoo
San Diego Zoo
San Francisco Zoo
Santa Barbara Zoo
Sea World San Diego
Seattle Aquarium
Shedd Aquarium
Smithsonian National Zoo
South Carolina Aquarium
Tennessee Aquarium
Two Oceans Aquarium, Cape Town, SA
Vancouver Aquarium
Feed me Seymour!
« Jellyfish: The Revenge | Main | "Holy Grail" of Peruvian Ornithology Seen in the Wild for First Time »
New Zealand Scientists May Microwave Colossal Squid
Category: cephalopod • colossal squid • microwave • mollusk • new zealand
Posted on: March 22, 2007 2:41 PM, by ableiman
TrackBacks
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://scienceblogs.com/mt/pings/48354
Comments
Damn that big-ass
Posted by: chase | September 1, 2008 10:54 PM
Its too late now, maybe the best thing would have been to let the beast just go free...
Posted by: Shane | April 12, 2009 5:21 AM
Why is it that we find some thing so awsome and huge like this and all ya can think about is killing the poor thing to put it on display. This is why there rare, cause we have taken over it all. Leave them alone....
Posted by: mj ramos | October 9, 2009 12:35 PM
Yeah, all science folk ever do is hurt things, damn it! If the aren't killin' mythical sea-beasts then they're whupin' up some confounded black-holes in pursuit o' the ol' Higgin's Boson! Go to Hell, College-Boys!
Posted by: Pete | December 9, 2009 1:09 AM
Actually, by the time the deep-sea animal reached the surface it was almost dead anyway. Anyway, what's wrong with keeping one rarely-seen creature for scientific study? It's not like they're an overfished species. This is the only one that's ever been captured alive. Nobody killed it to put it on display. It was inadvertently hauled up in a fishing net.
Posted by: Stutz | December 9, 2009 1:23 AM
yeah Stutz, you are totally right, but you know, when this kind of things happen, there are always some ignorants showing up whining even if they don't know a fu** about science.
Posted by: esa | December 9, 2009 2:03 AM
mj ramos: this is the reason why THEY ARE rare. NOT there rare.
can't blame you thou. your (you are) never interested in higher knowledge.
Posted by: key | December 9, 2009 2:45 AM
I agree with "esa." Sometimes you have to inspect an animal's body to know how it lives, what it does, what it eats, how it breeds and ultimately how to protect living specimens. After all, do you want to tap a 1000 squid on one of it's 8 shoulders and ask what it is hungry for today?
Plus, if we don't hook a few and microwave them, how will we ever know if squid make good hamburgers?
Posted by: R Schloemer | December 9, 2009 3:07 AM
Yeah, key. Because 'your' = 'You are'. Idiot.
Also.
I want my own colossal squid. :(
Posted by: key | December 9, 2009 5:53 AM
I've seen that very same colossal squid in Te Papa museum in wellington NZ and it's nowhere as big as the graphic depicts. Anyone with a bit of sense could tell that from the photo above.
Also, giant squids are actually longer then colossal squids. It's the bulbous body of the colossal squid that gives it it's name.
Posted by: Duggy | December 9, 2009 6:32 AM
call shenanigans. First, Dawkins also claims that he is "...not one of those who thinks men are genetically better equipped than women to become distinguished scientists.
Posted by: sikiş izle | December 9, 2009 7:20 AM
Ok I'm a little confused by the numbers on this post.
"Larger than giant squid, colossal squid range from 40-65 feet long"
"This specimen weighed 1,090 lbs and was 33 feet long."
so under the small range of the colossal squid.
then in the scale at the bottom it says giant squid 18 meters.
18 meters = 59.0551181 feet
according to google calculator.
so a giant squid is near the top range of its larger cousin's size. and this one is one because it is smaller then a giant squid.
or did someone just fuck up his units.
Posted by: kc | December 9, 2009 1:46 PM
Ok sorry Didn't see Duggy's post on length.
but even still I was basing it off the graphic and that shows the colossal squid as larger.
Posted by: kc | December 9, 2009 1:49 PM
All creatures have benefitted from the demise of other creatures. Sometimes we need to remove the sand from our vaginas to see the simplicity of the vagina.
Posted by: dododododo | December 9, 2009 2:44 PM
thats the squid budd light killed. id say eat it. but at least its dead and now dirty hippies have something else to complain about.
Posted by: bob | December 9, 2009 3:33 PM
"Go to Hell College Boys"..'been there and back...damn orbital mechanics final almost killed me.
Posted by: Steve | December 9, 2009 4:22 PM
the problem is that it lives in depths of really high pressure that when they take it out, it dies from the pressure change, much like putting a human into a vacuum
Posted by: bil ny | December 9, 2009 5:21 PM
Rare........no, I like mine medium rare.
Posted by: bob | December 9, 2009 6:49 PM
AAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I just can't believe that Pete(post #4) doesn't see how absolutely stupid he sounds. I was gonna write this even before I read the end..."Go to Hell! College Boys!"...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!...he must be from the south...oh I'm sorry Pete...that's a shame.
Posted by: DerekDutch | December 9, 2009 6:54 PM
Oh Derek...(sigh) Must the internet have [sarcasm] tags for you to understand it? Well played, Pete.
Posted by: UserClone | December 10, 2009 12:57 AM
Funny how an article from 2007 provokes quite a lot of moronic responses...
Posted by: Judas | December 10, 2009 3:06 AM
Is that its anus in the pic directly above the text "No final decision has been made..." Wouldn't it suck for that guy if it shot his face full of ink... excuse me, I just puked a little, in my mouth...
Posted by: Phil E. Drifter | December 10, 2009 6:18 AM
But does it taste like chicken?
Posted by: KDC | December 10, 2009 9:55 AM
thats its beak. not anus. i can see where yours is now.
Posted by: josh | December 10, 2009 10:12 AM
@ mj ramos: "This is why there rare"
There: adverb
1 : in or at that place —often used interjectionally
They're: contraction
1 : they are
Why is this such a difficult concept to grasp?
Posted by: Arthur Sobcheck | December 10, 2009 10:14 AM
i think deep frying it would be better than microwaving, but that's a lot of batter.
Posted by: alex | December 10, 2009 11:59 AM
I don't think the fisherman meant to catch the squid. I think it was an accident. Even if it wasn't an accident, believe me if that squid saw you he'd tear you to shreds.
Posted by: Patches | December 10, 2009 12:02 PM
I must post seemingly intelligent comments on the internet to feel better about myself. And by writing this sarcastic comment, I became a parody of myself.
LONG LIVE HITLER
Posted by: Harvard | December 10, 2009 1:32 PM
Did none of you RTFA? It wasn't netted. It was hooked. By the way, Key, you should make sure your spelling and grammar are correct before correcting someone elses. "thou"?
Posted by: Charley | December 10, 2009 3:15 PM
AAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I just can't believe that Pete(post #4) doesn't see how absolutely stupid he sounds.
Posted by: baby | July 5, 2010 12:39 PM
oh my god that's a really big squid..almost beat the blue whale! Sounds weird to reheat that thing...
Posted by: bread maker | October 17, 2010 8:07 AM
That is well known that cash makes people disembarrass. But what to do if someone has no cash? The only one way is to receive the business loans or bank loan.
Posted by: MasonMelinda | August 3, 2011 3:17 AM
thats the squid budd light killed. id say eat it. but at least its dead and now dirty hippies have something else to complain about.
Posted by: emlak | August 29, 2011 5:02 AM