***WOW***Giant Octopus Dredged Up Off New Zealand***WOW***

www.abcnews.go.com ^ | March 27 2002 | REUTERS

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

Giant Octopus Dredged Up Off New Zealand

March 27

— WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists have identified what they believe is the largest octopus ever seen, a 13 foot long giant hauled from the depths near New Zealand's remote Chatham Islands.

The dead specimen, caught in a trawler's net, was badly damaged but it was clearly a massive animal, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)marine biologist Steve O'Shea.

"It would easily have been four-plus meters in total length and a weight of 70-75 kg (154-165 pounds), if not more -- it's a very big octopus, the size of a fully mature male giant squid." O'Shea had provisionally identified the specimen, caught at a depth of more than 3,000 feet, as Haliphron Atlanticus, a bright red, jelly-like species of octopus not previously found in the South Pacific.

Juveniles of the species had been found in shallow northern waters, with adults believed to live at a depth of around 250 meters so the discovery was unusual, he said.

"It's extremely deep, it's extremely large, it's the first recorded in the South Pacific, it may not even be the species we've attributed to it at this point in time -- I've got a lot more work to do on it."

People had been amazed when he relayed the details of the creature, O'Shea said.

"But down here in New Zealand, this is an area which is so poorly explored that its not surprising that we're getting all these weird and wonderful animals.

"The frightening thing is that we are getting an animal like this newly reported in New Zealand waters today...so new and large, you've got to sit down and ask yourself 'What is it we know about the deep sea environment?'," O'Shea said.

Octopuses are one of the most diverse creatures on earth, with several hundred species worldwide and more than 40 species found in New Zealand waters alone.

The Chathams are a windswept group of islands around 530 miles east of Christchurch, home to around 800 people engaged in sheep farming and fishing.

[ppaul]

Here's a cool FLASH link:

GIANT OCTOPUS

:

[Calvin Locke]

"I'd like to be...garden, in the shade."

[lentulusgracchus]

Nothing compares to having an octopus crawling all over your face... (of course these are very small octopi"

As long as they don't have little blue rings all over them........saw some chilling footage of a diver letting one of those crawl all over his hand -- wow!

[shaggy eel]

,,, the seafood is outstanding. What we can get, that is. Lobster is caught, trans-shipped chilled by air to Christchurch and can be on lunch or dinner tables in Sydney, [Australia] restaurants the same day if flights coincide. A lot of product goes north to Singapore and Japan too. Big money.

[shaggy eel]

ping

[katykelly]

And a darn good job of staying on topic you did!

[MarkL]

More good stuff from "Down Under!" Who knew that Free Republic could be so educational! lol!!!

Mark

[ppaul]

.....but I have seen several stone fish which are just as fatal!

Like camarillo brillo?

[Diddle E. Squat]

Are you sure about that? Some of the stuff I've read makes the blue-ring sound a lot deadlier. Of course nothing compares to those nasty box jellies. No swimming in OZ for me!

[Rodney Dangerfield]

http://members.aol.com/PaulEC3/show.jpg

[Rodney Dangerfield]

http://members.aol.com/PaulEC3/show.jpg

[Rodney Dangerfield]

http://members.aol.com/PaulEC3/show.jpg

[Rodney Dangerfield]

Finally got it.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

I always feel guilty eating them

Well you should if you made friends with it;)

[shaggy eel]

,,, white pointers are the main curse in this part of the world. I'm a little too far north for them. They like colder spots like Dunedin and the Chatham Islands. I've heard one tale of how a young guy (first time out) with an experienced diver, had his leg taken off in a flash off a Dunedin beach. Apparently, he bled to death in a matter of minutes. I get my ankles wet on the Kapiti Coast and live to tell about that.

[DeSoto]

With all due respect, was it really necessary to link a picture with a file size of 2,652,655 bytes? I have a fast connection and it still takes way too long.

And what is that picture supposed to be anyhow?