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Giant squid washed up on South African beach

The giant squid on Long Beach is more than 2-3m long, with many injuries, suspected of being hit by a ship.





Giant squid carcass in Long Beach.  Photo: Alison Paulus

Giant squid carcass in Long Beach. Image: Alison Paulus

On April 30, beachgoers in Long Beach, Kommetjie, South Africa, encountered a giant squid carcass on the sand. According to Alison Paulus, a Cape Town resident and founder of the wildlife conservation organization Volunteer and Explore, the squid’s body is about 2.2 meters long. Adding tentacles and arms, the squid can grow up to 3.5m long.

The giant squid is among the most reclusive animals on the planet. They live in the sea 300 – 1,000m deep and rarely come to the surface. For centuries, the only information scientists knew about this animal came from studying the dead or stranded squid in the stomach of sperm whales. It was not until 2004 that they took the first pictures of the giant squid alive, according to National Geographic.

Giant squid are very rare on South African beaches. An intact young giant squid ran aground near Cape Town 2020. Another adult squid specimen washed up in the same area in 1992 and is more than 9m long, according to Devon Bowen, digital manager at Two Oceans aquarium in Cape Town.

The newly discovered squid ran aground at night after suffering multiple injuries, possibly from a collision with a commercial or fishing vessel. Paulus and his colleagues found a long laceration above the animal’s tentacles, most likely caused by the ship’s propeller. Wildlife experts confirmed it was a female squid. It could have been hit by a ship while on the surface, said Jon Friedman, wildlife officer from the Cape of Good Hope Society for the Prevention of Crime with Animals (SPCA).

Friedman estimates the squid is about 2 years old. Giant squid can live up to five years and reach 13 meters in length, although most individuals are about 11 meters long, according to Smithsonian. When the SPCA officers arrived, the local fisherman removed the squid’s eye and part of the tentacle. The SPCA chopped up the rest of the body and threw it into the sea. They also sent samples to the Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town for DNA analysis. Currently, the museum is keeping the carcasses of 19 giant squid.

An Khang (According to Live Science)

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