colossal

Rumor has it that New Zealand's colossal squid is a refined killing machine, hunting down prey at lightening speed deep in the murky Antarctic depths. Turns out rumor may be wrong. Scientists working on the largest ever whole specimen of colossal squid have made some curious discoveries. Far from being a fearsome deep sea warrior, this specimen appears to be an overweight blob suited only for floating slowly and pumping out eggs. The 1000+ pound squid was hauled in accidentally by a fishing boat last winter. Click here to see our coverage when the story initially aired. These findings…

Back in March of 2007, we brought you the story of an enormous (colossal really) squid, captured by New Zealandish fishermen and brought back for examination at the University of New Zealand. The frozen squid posed challenges for the researchers who realized that it would take so long to thaw that the outer parts would be rotting before the core had even melted (also an appropriate description of my brother Benny's heart). Well the marine biologists made their move today, thawing out the colossal squid in a bath of cool water. Had the water been too hot, they were worried it might crack the…