February 22, 2007

Largest Colossal Squid Ever

I can assure you that this is going to draw phenomenal interest. It is truly amazing.Steve O’Shea
Auckland’s University of Technology

Colossal Squid

On February 22, 2007, various sources, including the BBC News announced that New Zealand Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton said a Colossal Squid ( Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni), estimated as 33 feet (10 meters) long and 990 pound (450 kilograms) in weight, has been captured.

Fishermen on the vessel San Aspiring, owned by the Sanford seafood company, caught the animal in the cold Antarctic waters of the Ross Sea. It was brought to the surface as it fed on a Patagonian toothfish that had been caught off a long line. The specimen eclipsed the previous largest find. The new specimen is still shorter than some larger estimates have predicted. Bigger examples may be seen in the future.

Colossal Squid

The 450 kg squid is hauled beside the fishing boat and brought aboard. Picture: NZ Ministry of Fisheries / AAP

Colossal squid, which are found deep in Antarctic waters, are thought to be about the same length as giant squid (Architeutis dux) but are much heavier. The species was first identified in 1925, but very few specimens have been found. The first specimen recovered intact, a 150 kg (330 lb) immature female, was caught on the surface in the Ross Sea near the Antarctic coast in April 2004.BCC News

Colossal Squid

Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.

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