Half-chewed giant squid washed up in New Zealand

A group of tourists recently found the battered carcass of a giant squid, one of the most fascinating creatures in the deep sea, on a beach in New Zealand. Part of the animal’s tentacles, measuring about four meters, were probably chewed off by smaller sharks.

A few weeks ago, a giant squid carcass dried up on Scarborough Beach in Cape Town, South Africa. The animal, about 4.3 meters long, was the second such specimen seen on a beach in the area this year. This time, heading to New Zealand, east.

Cephalopod, measured by his mantle about four metresIt was discovered on September 9 on the beach at Farewell Spit. It is a nature reserve located in the north of the South Island. Anton Donaldson, a guide with the nature tour agency Farewell Spit Tours, found her body half buried under the sand. Then he quickly alerted a group of tourists nearby to come and have a look.

Deep giants

This giant squid is a species Architeuthis duxIt is the second largest squid in the Earth’s oceans. They were overtaken by the formidable Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni that can already be measured It reaches a length of thirteen or fourteen meters According to estimates. You will find them (with great luck) more than 900 meters below the surface. This species has been known since the 1920s thanks to the remains of large specimens found in the stomachs of sperm whales and bycatch by trawlers.

Many extinct species, most of which evolved during the Cretaceous and Ordovician periods, may have reached larger dimensions.

It’s unclear how much of this specimen’s full body actually measured. Most of its tentacles have been partially consumed by other marine creatures.

After the body was discovered, the travel company contacted the New Zealand Department of Conservation. according to New Zealand HeraldYou will likely try to recover the remains so they can be studied.

This is not the first time that the remains of deep-sea giants have washed up on the shores of the Farewell Spit. In total, At least six dead giant squid It has washed up on the beaches of the nature reserve for the past 30 years. One such sighting, made in 2019, involved an intact 5.5m long squid.