Squid catch surprises scientists
Kiwi scientists have been left stunned and excited after unwittingly catching a giant squid.
The scientists were surprised to find a giant squid caught in their fishing trawl net while they were out surveying hoki off Canterbury’s east coast recently.
A statement from Niwa (National Institute for Water & Atmospheric Research) said the survey took place in January on the Chatham Rise. When pulling in the trawl net, the scientists were surprised to spot huge tentacles among the fish in the net. Voyage leader and Niwa fisheries scientist Darren Stevens said it took six staff to lift the squid, which weighed about 110 kilograms, on to a tarpaulin.
Stevens described the 4-metrelong squid as ‘‘probably on the smallish side’’.
He said the ship was abuzz with news of the squid and sleeping scientists were even roused to take photographs.
‘‘We knew there would be staff who wouldn’t be happy if we hadn’t woken them for a giant squid.‘‘
The squid was examined and dissected by Auckland University of Technology squid researcher Ryan Howard.
Nearly 50kg of samples of the squid were taken, including the eyes, head, stomach and reproductive organs.
‘‘We took the stomach because virtually nothing is known about a giant squid’s diet because every time people seem to catch one, there is very rarely anything in their stomachs,’’ Stevens said.
He said the eyes would be used for research and could even shed light on the secret lives of giant squid.
‘‘Getting two giant squid eyes is apparently enough for a scientific paper. They are really rare, and you need a fresh one. So it was a really unique set of circumstances to get two fresh eyes.
‘‘The life cycle of giant squid is another mystery. The statolith – a tiny bone structure in the head – will be used to estimate the age of the squid. Currently there is no good way to age a giant squid. It is thought they live for more than one year that is for sure, maybe they live for three or four but noone really knows.’’
Niwa researchers catch a giant squid about once a decade. While giant squid are a global species, Stevens said New Zealand seemed to be something of a hotspot for catching them.
‘‘New Zealand is kind of the giant squid capital of the world – anywhere else a giant squid is caught in a net would be a massive deal. But there’s been a few caught off New Zealand.’’
Stevens said he had been on about 40 survey trips and only ever seen one other giant squid, so it was ‘‘pretty rare’’.