U.S. scientists net giant squid in Gulf of Mexico

Reuters ^ | 9/22/09 | Jasmin Melvin

[OneVike]

U.S. scientists in the Gulf of Mexico unexpectedly netted a 19.5-foot (5.9-meter) giant squid off the coast of Louisiana, the Interior Department said on Monday, showing how little is known about life in the deep waters of the Gulf.

Not since 1954, when a giant squid was found floating dead off the Mississippi Delta, has the rare species been spotted in the Gulf of Mexico.

The squid, weighing in at 103 pounds (46.7 kg), was caught July 30 in a trawl net more than 1,500 feet underwater as it was pulled by a research vessel.

The giant squid, which did not survive the rapid change in water depth when brought to the surface, was preserved and sent to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History for further study.

Scientists aboard -- from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service -- were participating in a pilot study on the diets of sperm whales.

"As the trawl net rose out of the water, I could see that we had something big in there ... really big," Anthony Martinez, a marine mammal scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the chief scientist on the research cruise, said in a statement.

Remnants of giant squid have been found in the stomachs of its predators in the waters of the Gulf, Caribbean and Florida Keys so scientists were aware of their presence in the Gulf.

[OneVike]

OK, my thread was pulled because I forgot my link, here is is with the proper link.

Again if we are killing the ocean then how can they keep finding things that are not supposed to be there?

Inquiring minds want to know.

[Admin Moderator]

You didn’t forget your link, you added the incorrect one.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

[ikka]

I wonder how good it tastes as calamari ...

[Tucson Jim]

Good and tough!

[SunkenCiv]

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