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WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Marine scientists in New Zealand on Tuesday were thawing the corpse of the largest squid ever caught to try to unlock the secrets of one of the ocean's most mysterious beasts. No one has ever seen a living, grown colossal squid in its natural deep ocean habitat, and scientists hope their examination of the 1,089-pound, 26-foot long colossal squid, set to begin Wednesday, will help determine how the creatures live. The thawing and examination are being broadcast live on the Internet. The squid, which was caught accidentally by fishermen last year, was removed from its freezer...

MONTEREY, Calif. - Jumbo squid that can grow up to 7 feet long and weigh more than 110 pounds is invading central California waters and preying on local anchovy, hake and other commercial fish populations, according to a study published Tuesday. An aggressive predator, the Humboldt squid — or Dosidicus gigas — can change its eating habits to consume the food supply favored by tuna and sharks, its closest competitors, according to an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal. "Having a new, voracious predator set up shop here in California may be yet another...

Updated:2007-02-22 13:47:58 Rare Squid Could Be Largest Ever Hooked Massive Catch Has Rings the Size of Truck Tires By RAY LILLEY AP WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Feb. 22) - A fishing crew has caught a colossal squid that could weigh a half-ton and prove to be the biggest specimen ever landed, a fisheries official said Thursday. The squid, weighing an estimated 990 pounds and about 39 feet long, took two hours to land in Antarctic waters, New Zealand Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton said. The fishermen were catching Patagonian toothfish, sold under the name Chilean sea bass, south of New Zealand "and...

Rare Colossal Squid Found Near Antarctica Only One Other Squid Has Ever Been Found Posted: 5:14 p.m. EST April 3, 2003 Updated: 6:24 p.m. EST April 3, 2003 A rare and dangerous squid with eyes the size of dinner plates and scores of razor-sharp hooks to snag its prey has been caught by fishermen in the Ross Sea in Antarctica, according to a Local 6 News report. The half-grown female colossal squid is only the second intact example of the monster cephalopod known to have been found, said marine biologist Steve O'Shea of New Zealand's national museum on Thursday....

Huge eyeball turns up in Pompano Beach Taking his usual morning stroll along the surf in Pompano Beach, Gino Covacci noticed a strange ball-like object at the high tide line. He kicked it over and found himself staring at the biggest eyeball he had ever seen. The blue, softball-sized orb he found Wednesday was a departure from the shells, cigarette butts and seaweed he usually sees. He put it in a plastic bag and put that in the refrigerator. "It was very, very fresh," he said Thursday. "It was still bleeding when I put it in the plastic bag." He...

<p>So much for the theory that President Bush's "obsession" with Saddam Hussein has detracted from the war on terrorism. The apprehension in Pakistan of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed certainly cut off that tired argument at the knees.</p> <p>As chief of operations, Mr. Mohammed was one of the biggest squids in the al-Qaida network. He is believed to have masterminded for Osama bin Laden the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. He's also thought to have orchestrated 1998's simultaneous bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen.</p>

Dozens of large squid are reportedly washing up dead on the central Oregon coast near Heceta Head. Oregon State Parks and Recreation spokesman Chris Havel tells the Oregonian his office is hearing reports of dozens of what are probably Humboldt squid. He says they're typically much more common in warmer waters around Santa Cruz, Calif. Humboldt squid have also showed up recently in waters off the Washington coast and in the Strait of Juan de Fuca between Washington state and British Columbia's Vancouver Island. Commercial fishermen in the strait complained the giant squid were grabbing the salmon right off their...

The mating habits of deep-sea squid have been revealed for the first time, after the discovery of a male squid with a huge elongated and erect penis. The male squid's sexual organ is almost as long as its whole body, including the squid's mantle, head and arms. That shows how male deep-sea squid inseminate females; they use their huge penis to shoot out packages of sperm, injecting them into the female's body. The discovery may also help explain how giant squid mate in the ocean depths.....

In what could be the ultimate marine smack-down, great white sharks off the California coast may be migrating 1,600 miles west to do battle with creatures that rival their star power: giant squids. A series of studies tracking this mysterious migration has scientists rethinking not just what the big shark does with its time but also what sort of creature it is. Few sea denizens match great white sharks and giant squids in primitive mystique. Both are the subject of popular mania; both are inscrutable. That these two mythic sea monsters might convene for epic battles in the stark expanses...

They're not quite sea monsters, but anglers here are landing squid nearly 6 feet long, far larger than a typical catch. One Newport Landing Sportfishing boat came back Saturday with a load of squid that averaged 30 pounds each, and 5 feet in length. A 4-pound squid is typical, but the largest in the catch weighed 50 pounds and was nearly 6 feet long. "People were getting wet and trying to avoid getting inked," said Newport Landing manager Steffanie Hillerstein. The boat was fishing the waters just south of Laguna Beach. Anglers, using 10-inch long lures, needed nearly 10 minutes...

A colossal squid has been caught in Antarctic waters, the first example of Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni retrieved virtually intact from the surface of the ocean. "All we knew prior to this specimen coming through was that this animal lived in the abyssal environment down in Antarctica," New Zealand squid expert and senior research fellow at Auckland University of Technology, Dr Steve O'Shea, told BBC News Online. "Now we know that it is moving right through the water column, right up to the very surface and it grows to a spectacular size." Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni was first identified in 1925 after two arms...

Scientists said on Wednesday a huge mass of slimy flesh that washed up on a Chilean beach last week may be a rare type of giant octopus or just discarded whale blubber. In an unrelated story, Helen Thomas, Maddy Albright, and Janet Reno were seen on a Chilean beach during their vacation late last week.

New Zealand fishermen may have caught the largest Colossal squid ever found -- weighing around 450kg (992 pounds) and with rings the size of tires.The adult Colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) was caught by fishermen long lining for toothfish in deep ocean off Antarctica, New Zealand Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton said on Thursday in announcing the catch.The squid was still alive when caught and was eating a hooked toothfish when hauled aboard, Anderton said in a statement."The squid was almost dead when it reached the surface, and the careful work of the crew was paramount in getting this specimen aboard in...

New Zealand fishermen have caught what is expected to be a world-record-breaking colossal squid. Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton said the squid, weighing an estimated 450kg (990lb),took two hours to land in Antarctic waters. Local news said the Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni was about 10m (33ft) long, and was the first adult colossal squid landed intact. One expert said calamari rings made from it would be like tractor tyres.

Colossal squid hooked with rings the size of tractor tyres   February 22, 2007 - 3:30PM     New Zealand fishermen in the Ross Sea have caught what's thought to be the largest squid ever found.Its estimated weight is about 450 kilograms.The species is known as the colossal squid, shorter but much heavier than the better known giant squid.It was hauled to the surface while munching on one of its favourite foods, a Patagonian toothfish which the fishermen had hooked on a longline.Dr Steve O'Shea, from the Auckland University of Technology, says the previous largest find weighed 300 kilograms.He...

Giant squid on display at museum One of the world's best specimens of the giant squid Architeuthis dux has gone on display at The Natural History Museum in London. The colossal cephalopod was caught by a trawler off the Falkland Islands and is about 8.62 metres/28 ft in length. The species can reach a maximum size of up to 13m - five metres longer than a double decker bus. Researchers at the museum have managed to successfully preserve the squid and fit it inside an enormous 10m/30' long display case. Jon Ablett, curator of molluscs in the Museum's Department of...

Colossal squid a formidable customer 03.04.2003 - By PAULA OLIVER It has eyes as big as dinner plates, swivelling, razor-sharp hooks and a taste for anything that swims by. A colossal squid, a creature previously thought to lurk only deep in the world's coldest oceans, has been caught on the surface of the Ross Sea by a group of fishermen. The exact point where the sea monster was found is being kept secret, but it appears that the fishermen were pulling in their catch when they noticed that something large was attacking the fish. "They knew they were on to...

Monster Squid Grips Racing Yacht? AFP Jan. 16 — A French yacht taking part in the Jules Verne round-the-world sailing trophy was gripped by a giant squid for about an hour in the mid-Atlantic, its skipper announced by radio-link. Veteran yachtsman Oliver de Kersauson, at the helm of the trimaran Geronimo, said the three-hulled boat was hit by strange vibrations on Sunday, so he sent a crew member below deck to try to identify what was wrong. "Suddenly he saw something moving," de Kersauson said. "It was tentacles. "The squid was pulling really hard, so we put the boat...

LUARCA, Spain (Reuters) - Global warming could be behind the mysterious deaths of giant squid off the north coast of Spain, a marine biologist has said. Experts at a marine life protection centre in the northern region of Asturias said that of the 40 giant squid recorded in the area since 1962, three had been found in the past month. "The increased sightings of dead giant squid could be due to various factors, from (military) manoeuvres to pollution and global warming," Angel Guerra, of the Spanish Institute of Scientific Research, told Reuters on Friday as he dissected one of the...