Wellington monster only a giant, not colossal, squid
WELLINGTON: Three brothers were searching the Wellington coastline for somewhere to dive yesterday morning when they came across a giant squid washed up on a beach.
Daniel, Jack and Matthew Aplin were driving along the track near Red Rocks on Wellington’s south coast when they spotted it.
‘‘My brother said ‘what’s that over there?’ and pointed it out,’’ Daniel Aplin said.
‘‘It was right next to the track so we pulled over and we were, like: ‘It’s a big squid’.’’
They took photos of the squid, which dwarfed his two brothers who were ‘‘big dudes’’.
‘‘After we went for a dive we went back to it and got a tape measure out and it measured 4.2 metres long,’’ Daniel Aplin told the Herald.
A spokesman from the Department of Conservation said it was most likely a giant squid, not a colossal squid like the one at Te Papa.
Posting to the Ocean Hunter Spearfishing and Freediving Specialists Facebook page, diving pundits from around the country expressed shock at the discovery.
‘‘That’s a whole heap of calamari,’’ one said. ‘‘People worry about sharks. Bugger seeing that in the water,’’ said another.
Daniel Aplin and his brothers had seen a few sharks while diving in the area but had never seen a giant squid before.
He said it appeared to have shrunk while they went away diving and did not appear to have any signs it was attacked by another animal.
‘‘It was pretty clean, nothing major on it. There was a scratch on the top of its head but smaller than a lighter — tiny — wouldn’t think that’s what killed it,’’ he said.
The brothers were not sure who to call and eventually decided to contact a friend from Niwa, who organised for the squid to be collected. — NZME