Hi everyone,

These are some pictures of a giant squid that Steve is curating for public display. We had a lot of 'fun' getting this squid and its container off the ground and into a van this afternoon. Steve has some great pictures of this endeavour; he may post these when he has time...

You will find pictures of this animal fresh, when it arrived here (http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?p=81251#post81251). Just scroll up the page.

This is one of Steve 'repairing' the squid...

Steve sewing up bits of the squid, I think it needs bolts through the neck...

Steve sewing up bits of the squid, I think it needs bolts through the neck...
:mrgreen:

I bet that smells like fresh strawberries :tongue:

Stitching squid is like stitching butter; it isn't the easiest thing to do. Spent the best part of 10 hours sewing that squid up, and then broke the back (figure z), a chair, very nearly a saw-horse, and bruised the legs like never before getting that thing into a van. We so need a hoist!

Will post pics later (the camera battery dead so cannot download).

are you sure its a giant squid, cause i saw one on discovery qand i was a lot bigger. Wait, what age is it?

Hi Aaron. Yes, that is definitely a giant squid, Architeuthis dux, and a very large and heavy one too. It is destined to go on display, of all places, in a fish shop in Tauranga, New Zealand. They have constructed a special tank for it there. Unfortunately it is a little cramped (and difficult to work on) in the 2m tuna bin in which it currently sits (in the van), but when it goes on display it will be stretched out. This specimen (like so many) lack the tentacles, but I'm sure one day a set will be found for it. Many of the arm tips are gone, and most of the arms had to be re-attached/sewn and mended, but the final frankensquid looks pretty good!

It is an almost fully mature female, and probably (although nobody knows for sure) about 1.5 years old. They don't live much longer (depending on what technique you use to age them they are a maximum of 1.5 years, 3 years or ~ 13 years beforethey reach maturity); if I had used one of those techniques this specimen would have been placed at ~ 1.5 years.

Here are a few before and after pics, as the animal is repaired. I still have a little to do, but am too beat right now to consider it.

As you'll have noted from the earlier pics (when we received it; see link in Matt's first post), it was a little bent, there was a rope around it (and yes, this has left impressions), and the arms looked quite stumpy; I'll repost that pic later).

The squid was in a tub of water, soaking the formalin out (nice smell to be over for 10 hrs), and periodically I would raise the water level, or empty it depending on what I was trying to do, or get access to.

Here's the stitching effort, eye, mantle and fin.

A few other pics; there were pieces of arm everywhere - now each has a home somewhere on the animal. It was a real puzzle .... and I stuffed up one of them (suckers going big, small, then big again). Those are 'spare bits' about half-way through the day that lie atop the mantle; the lower ... whew, all spare bits accounted for and reattached.

The next step was to get said squid into vehicle. This is something I don't want to repeat in any great hurry. There are two of us there, although one of us is behind the camera (it looks like Matt did all the work!).

Between photos there was much cursing and profanity!! This was not an easy exercise! (The chair holding one end of the tank up simply collapsed, and 200kg worth of squid and 75kg worth of tank came crashing down VERY quickly!!).

Moral of the story .... don't try and shift a squid with a chair!

The saw-horse was quite a sore horse at the end of this, having become trapped beneath and itself falling over.

Don't ask how we got that squid and tank up onto a saw-horse and chair in the first instance! That was a feat!

But as all stories should end, this one ended happily, and the squid, tank and stuff was put to bed for the evening in the back of the van.

The yard returned to normal, and we all went home to partake in a :wine:

As an aside, don't open the lid of that 3m stainless steel tank! The smell in there can be described only as 'not right'! Therein lies the sunfish skeleton, slowly breaking down with the help of some extremophile organisms. I'm in no hurry to reopen it!

That's really cool. Where was it caught? It sounds like hours of hard work has gone into this so far, best of luck!

Next time, find a ramp! :grin:

I'm sooooo glad I don't have a car park in your building most especially on that level!!! It reminds me of the time Kerry & I visited and you were thawing an Archi in the carpark an there was a stream of melt water and squid glop pooling around the tyres of some poor souls car :yuck: bet they couldn't figure out where the smell was coming from later :lol:

J

What smell?

Top to bottom, being lifted out of the vessel, opened at AUT, and stitched. Hopefully, soon, it will be on display and we get pics of it in the final tank.

The next step was to get said squid into vehicle. . This was not an easy exercise! (The chair holding one end of the tank up simply collapsed, and 200kg worth of squid and 75kg worth of tank came crashing down VERY quickly!!).

Moral of the story .... don't try and shift a squid with a chair!

..

Well Steven...if you look closely at the container the squid is in you will note at the bottom there are two grooves...these, surprisingly, are exactly the same width apart as the tynes on a fork lift truck! This device...seemingly unknown in Auckland, is quite useful..in fact you can even hire them for a few dollars - definitely less expensive than a new chair............

Why Sir M, Oh great pseudonym one. Should I reveal your identity to all? How unlike you to give me a hard time.

Men have been hauling giant squid for tens of millions of years. Besides, I need the practice - there'll be near 500kg of squid to benchpress soon.

Well Steven...if you look closely at the container the squid is in you will note at the bottom there are two grooves...these, surprisingly, are exactly the same width apart as the tynes on a fork lift truck! This device...seemingly unknown in Auckland, is quite useful..in fact you can even hire them for a few dollars - definitely less expensive than a new chair............

Our way was MUCH funnier, and a much better story too...

Why Sir M, Oh great pseudonym one. Should I reveal your identity to all?...


:shock: :heee:

I have NO idea who he is, but I must say it is my secret wish (well, not so secret anymore) that none other than Mr. Michael deGruy is on this site...Somewhere. :smile:

He's the guy "responsible" for my fascination with these little buggers, afterall. :wink:

Why Sir M, Oh great pseudonym one. Should I reveal your identity to all? How unlike you to give me a hard time.

Men have been hauling giant squid for tens of millions of years. Besides, I need the practice - there'll be near 500kg of squid to benchpress soon.

But Steve, my identity was revealed to all - only to be cast into oblivion when taken seriously! (instead of reading what I posted):roll:

You just need the occasional gentle reminder that you are in Auckland now and need vigilance to avoid becoming a jafa.

What smell?

Put it this way Kerry and I knew we were on the right floor the minute the elevator doors opened:lol: . I expect your nasal chemoreceptors have long since burned out due to sensory overload :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

But what a job. At PML we have a small fork for moving barrels of fuel for the runabout and barrels of alcohol to the DG store, its not a driveable one, it's like the front end of a fork lift and you walk behind it.....something like that would save you from permanent spinal damage..........don't want you all to end up looking like Igor, even if you were working on a Frankensquid!!!

J

Well, the squid went for a drive through a wet, central New Zealand yesterday. Just a pic of some lovely, moist scenery in the middle of a gorge.

After we reached our destination, we spent the best part of 4 hours working on the specimen, getting it ready for sealing of the tank. I left the final sealing to the happy folk you'll see in the pictures.

Unfortunately the room lighting wasn't the best, with fluorescent lights and windows contributing to my misery as I tried to get a good shot. Here are just a few, though I'm not really happy with the end result (photos that is). They are installing spooky lighting in the tank today, and will then seal it.

It is a big animal that nicely fits in the tank (3m x 0.75m (wide) by 0.5m (high)).

The squid just needs a little tidying up now, but no major.

And a few more

I still think Dr Squidenstein's creation is a formidable beast. What's its ML again? Congrats on such a fine effort!

Reminds me of the time I ate squids liver in a sushi bar in Japan... now this one would make a proper meal!!

Interior of a funeral parlour, canned organ music playing in the background. Two elderly Architeuthis stand at a casket.

Flo: Oh, she looks so peaceful.
Reg: Yeah. Real natural, like.
Flo: Why, she might as well be sleeping. A lovely job, they did.
Reg: Not tarted up, I hate that.
Flo: And such nice lighting.
Reg: Flattering, it is.
Flo: Inscription's a bit much.
Reg: Must think we're stupid.

:roll:

:lol: AAHHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Reminds me of the time I ate squids liver in a sushi bar in Japan... now this one would make a proper meal!!

It wouldn't, unless you like slobbering ammonia :wink:

It might also be a suggestion to change your sig?

Thank you so much for the amazing pictures! I enjoyed the "GIANT SQUID" sign on the side of the "box," in case someone didn't know what it was! Thanks Dr. O'Shea. New Zealand looks lovely this time of year

I ma just wandering if anyone has seen this video of a giant squid being caught in San Diego Bay? I find it hard to believe and would think that Marine Biologists and Scientists would be jumping for a chance to catch these like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn_o2AWPsck

Am amazing animal indeed, although I'm not too happy with that young fellow hitting the squid at the end, or with shouting the likes of 'kill, kill, kill' throughout.

Particularly noteworthy is the bahaviour of this animal when on the end of the lure; not too dissimilar to that of Dr Kubodera's Architeuthis off Japan (squid tend to do this on the end of a lure).

The important thing to remember is that the squid on the lure in this YouTube scene is not giant squid, but rather the Humboldt squid. The silly press keep getting these two confused.

People are dumb.
Some proud parents of such wonderful kids.
What a healthy respect for wildlife, too. :rolleyes:

Dr. Steve, what would be the safest way to release a squid like this if someone who didn't want to shout "kill, kill!" and hit it once it was landed accidentally caught one? I can't imagine leaving the hook in and cutting the line would be healthy, but I imagine the time out of the water and the ensuing struggle would be stressful if you were to try to remove the hook...Any thoughts?

Yeah, that is one disturbing video on several fronts.

Some people have no respect for life. What a vile message those kids are learning!

It's sad to see kids chanting "kill, kill". I just hope that some day they can see that the squid is a creature better off not being killed, just like anything else. Hopefully they won't grow up to be like Peter Talley.

I can't imagine leaving the hook in and cutting the line would be healthy, but I imagine the time out of the water and the ensuing struggle would be stressful if you were to try to remove the hook...Any thoughts?

No cutting the line and leaving the hook in wouldn't be good, I would put the squid in a fish bin and hold the mantle (while wearing wet gloves to try to preserve the skin) then unhook the squid, if they're using a squid jig it will be barbless and should come off easily, if it was a barbed hook, I'd push it through, then cut the hook to remove it.

It would probably take two people though! Steve may have other methods?

J

Unsticking this thread also. There should be some news to post here in the not-too-distant future, at which point in time we'll ressurect it.

It looks sad:sad: