(University of Florida researcher Roger Portell injects preservative into a 25-foot-long giant squid Monday night; Credit for all photos: Jeff Gage)
Recreational fishermen on Monday found a rare 25-foot-long giant squid floating off the Florida coast, according to a University of Florida press release.
25-FOOT-LONG GIANT SQUID FOUND OFF FLORIDA'S COAST
Wed Jun 29, 2011 12:14 PM ET
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Robert Benz spotted the giant squid while fishing with friends Joey Asaro and Paul Peroulakis. They somehow managed to haul the enormous dying squid onto the back of their 23-foot boat.
"I thought we definitely need to bring it in, because no one's going to believe us if we don't," Benz was quoted as saying in the press release. "I didn’t want to leave it out there and just let the sharks eat it."
The huge squid, which later perished, was first brought to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Tequesta Field Laboratory in Palm Beach County. It was later collected by scientists from the University of Florida. It's now the only one of its kind in the collections of theFlorida Museum of Natural History.
"It's so rare to get these specimens and they're such deep-water animals that we don't know much about how they live," said John Slapcinsky, Florida Museum malacology collection manager. "This specimen provides an excellent opportunity to learn things about these creatures we couldn’t find out any other way."
It's possible that the giant squid died a natural death. These deep ocean dwellers only reproduce once in their lifetime. After that, they often slowly die. Slapcinsky believes the squid was in that dying state of lethargy when the fishermen found it near the surface in 170 feet of water.
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