Rare sight, giant squid carcass washed up on South African beach

Alison Paulus, a Cape Town resident and founder of wildlife conservation group Volunteer and Discover says: “It was amazing to see it. The giant squid he discovered on the beach on April 30 has a body about 2.2 meters long, while the animal’s tentacles extend to 3.5 meters.

Wildlife experts say the squid is a female, about 2 years old and dead

This squid drifted in seaside at night with serious injuries, possibly from a collision with a commercial or fishing vessel.

Paulus said: “We could see a long wound above the tentacles that we suspected was caused by the ship’s propeller.”

Giant squid are said to inhabit all of the world’s oceans, but it’s only when one washes ashore that one gets a chance to catch a glimpse of this enigmatic creature. Usually they live at depths from 300m to 1,000m 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 wasn’t until 2004 that they took the first pictures of giant squid alive, according to National Geographic.

The giant squid is among the largest invertebrates on the planet. The giant squid is known to live up to 5 years and reach a length of 43 feet (13 m), but averages 36 feet (11 m), weighs 440 pounds (200kg) and is comparable to the size of a giant squid. bus.

Currently, the Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town is keeping the carcasses of 19 giant squid.

According to Tien Phong