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A TEAM OF scientists and researchers in New Zealand today dissected only the second intact specimen of a colossal squid hauled from the ocean.
The 350kg female was caught a couple of months ago in the Ross Sea off the coast of Antarctica by a team fishing for Patagonian toothfish.
Pulled from a depth somewhere between 1200m and 1800m, it weighed about 350kg and was 3.5m long from fin to tentacle.
The fisherman ceased operations immediately once they saw the beast, and slung a tarpaulin underneath it to preserve it as well as possible. It was donated to the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and, until Monday, had been kept on ice.
Colossal squid are shorter than their legendary brethren, giant squid, but heavier. The largest known specimen of a colossal squid weighed about 500kg.
Scientists have known about their existence since 1925, but only from scraps found inside whales and sucker imprints on whale skin. It wasn’t until 2007 when the same vessel that hooked this specimen, the long-liner San Aspiring, caught the first live colossal squid, also in the Ross Sea.
Since 2008, 4.5 million have seen that first squid on display in the Natural History Display at the Te Papa museum.
The dissection on Tuesday was carried out by museum staff with the Auckland University of Technology helping out. It began at 9.30 a.m. AEST and was broadcast live on YouTube for the next three and a half hours.
Here are the photo highlights:
Dr. Kat Bolstad led the dissection, starting with an examination of the tentacles.
The eye generated a lot of excitement on Twitter. It was more than foot across, the largest in the animal kingdom.
The beak took some removal, but it was well worth it.
The team grouped around the squid to give an idea of why it’s called “colossal.” The water is brown with ink, ruptured liver juice, blood and ammonium chloride, which the squid holds in a sac for buoyancy.
One of the main differences between colossal squid and their relatives is the presence of hooks in their tentacles.
It’s an incredible creature. You can watch the entire show here.
Censoring again with a DOB article below….
Enda and him go way back!!
Ah don’t worry sure Enda hasn’t been near DOB since they shared a platform in the New York stock exchange……
Sorry, I know this has nothing to do with this article but I just had to give our Enda a wee mention. “What happened in the past is in the past” he says. Well, will someone please remind him of this statement when he next tries to bring up what Gerry et al allegedly got up to in the past, as a means of deflecting from FG fu@k ups.
Vincent Brown on at moment a+e is going to go
He’s in right form!
When the first inmate dies as a result of the closure,they will reopen it but how many law abiding,decent people will die in the interim.
Shame of labour for their complete sellout of the workers of Ireland
It will take decades to sort out the mess that is the HSE, truth be told. There is not one person, not one, in this current or any previous gov formation that has the wherwithall or baĺls to take it on board and deal with it.
Why oh why is the department of health given to anyone who 1. Does not understand health and 2. Not understand a balance sheet.
Why is the health of the nation under the remit of someone so unqualified for the job at hand?
And even up to the end of April, how many people bought private HI, and arent even covered for a Elastoplast waterproof plaster?
I propose that the next government put in a mandate..remove the minister for health from gov shackles, put in a person qualified to run a company/business as large as the HSE.
I know I’ll probably be red thumbed to bits but on this I dont care. The mess that is the HSE has to be dealt with.
Couldn’t agree more.
Be proud of Enda and co ensuring the welfare of the Irish citizen is the priority – not.
Have they ever heard of Naas? It’s twenty minutes up the motorway.
And Tullamore half an hour away too. Ask any local person in the area and they’ll have a horror story about Portlaoise hospital. It’s not fit for purpose.
Do you know each and every one of us Karen? I don’t remember giving you my opinion on the matter.
speak for yourself karen. a drive to naas and tullamore are a journey I’d rather not take when it’s life or death when there’s an a&e a few minutes away. portlaoise serves more than the town it serves many, many people from many other areas. It should be invested in and run better, not just thrown away. It’s always the way in ireland when things are broken they don’t fix it they close them up and put pressure on somewhere else in this instance other hospitals which will be swamped by the overflow from portlaoise.
Good on you Journal watching the people’s debate .
Can we comment on inda’s black eye in the video there? Same side noonan took a smack on a few weeks back. Coincidence?
Woohoo… not blocked on this account yet. Has been difficult trying to comment with the truth lately.
They must have a screw loose.
Yes Prison Officers will have to travel further if Portlaoise A+E closes the same as Castherea officers have to since the closure of ROSCOMMON A+E was closed 4 years ago. And no-one is mentioning the cost of all the extra ambulances that are being called in from a private Ambulance service since the closure and then also the extra cost to the prison service for the long escorts too that has been incurred.Reilly,Kenny,Gilmore,Burton and their merry little men for making up all the lies that they have done but the people of Ireland have woken up and We the people will not tolerate this shambles that Fine Gael and Labour have totally destroyed our Health System they are spending millions every year because of the closure of the A+E’s since taking office.The lies continues…This Government have spent more money to keep Roscommon A+E closed with the overtime to the ambulance service and the cost of employing Private Ambulance Service.They are spending €20million on Roscommon Hospital trying to placate the people of Roscommon and telling us that the hospital is safer now that the A+E is closed.Yes it is Safer but so will all hospitals that have their A+E’s closed cos there are no patients brought in by ambulances from RTA’s or strokes or heart attacks etc a stupid comment to make and these comments are made by the very people who are supposed to be intelligent educated people and they think we the people will vote for them I have three dogs that would do a better job than them
Roscommon A&E could be open 48 hours a day, and it still would be the wrong place to have a heart attack or stroke.
Heart attack – treated with reopening the artery with stents – need a cath lab and a team of cardiologists and specialists nurses.
Stroke – treated with clot busting drugs – need a CT scan +/- MRI, radiologists, and neurologists.
Roscommon/Port Laoise are too small to provide the specialist treatment people deserve – be it cancer care, cardiac or trauma care.
Roscommon A&E was closed on lies and false figures Roscommon had a very good Cardiac unit with specialised staff small yes but very successful The dogs on the street knows why Kenny closed Roscommon A+E yes he wanted to destroy Denis Naughton but hey Denis is a very well respected in Roscommon for his honesty hard work and his locality
Roscommon A&E could be open 72 hours a day and still the closest cath lab would be in Galway.
Sitting in a “cardiac unit” in Roscommon isn’t the treatment for a heart attack. An angiogram and stents is.
If I had a heart attack – I want to see a cardiologist- not a general medical consultant. Likewise for stroke – I want a stroke specialist and care in a specialist stroke ward. Roscommon is too small to have these services.
Can the prisoners not be sedated ( with a valium or something) would make it a lot easier for them to be brought to the hospital.
Several hours??? Your in portlaoise not Outer Mongolia. It’s less than an hour from Dublin. Jesus Christ wtf is wrong with these people.
A few minutes is all it takes between life and death. Portlaoise hospital and a&e dept serves a huge catchment area. Unfortunately somebody having a heart attack or stroke etc does not have the luxury of having a few hours to allow them to get to a Dublin hospital for treatment. And yes it could take that long to get there. First of all you have to wait God knows how long for an ambulance to even get to you in the first place. The a&e dept cannot close. Lives will be lost.
” Defund, let system break down, the public get angry, offer ‘only solution’ – hand over to private capital ” – N.C.
Denis O’Brien is waiting with his private hospitals, Brian Cowen at the helm, – for health insurance to be made compulsory for everyone.
And of course, like the water charges, The government will scare, & bully the citizens with the usual threats of ‘having it taken directly from wages/welfare, pocket money, whatever.
Brian Cowen pushed for privatisation of the health service when he was Taoiseach, – I wonder why…
have your say