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Monster Of The Deep

It lies, still and wet, in a huge metal tank wrapped with chains. The case is so big it cannot fit through any of the doors in New York City's American Museum of Natural History. On the side of the case, someone has scratched the letters S-Q-U-I-D-Z-I-L-L-A.

"We keep it chained up so it doesn't get out," jokes Neil Landman, a scientist at the museum. There is no way the creature inside that case could get out: it's dead. But what exactly is it?

It's a giant squid, one of the earth's most mysterious animals. No one has ever seen a live giant squid. Scientists have been able to study only a few body parts that have washed up from the ocean over the years.

My, What Long Arms You Have!
Squidzilla is amazing to scientists because it's the most complete and best-preserved giant-squid specimen in the world. All eight arms are in place!

The squid is in such great shape thanks to quick-thinking fishermen who found it off the coast of New Zealand. When the dead squid landed in one of their giant nets, they froze it right away so the body wouldn't start to rot. Then it was flown to New York and allowed to defrost overnight at the museum. Next, scientists put it in a bath of special, smelly chemicals to preserve it.

A Deep-down Mystery
At a length of 25 feet and a weight of 200 pounds, it looked at first to museum scientists like a baby giant squid. Its tentacles are much shorter than some of those they've found in the past. Scientists think the biggest giant squid may be as long as 60 feet and weigh more than a ton! But after studying the squid, Landman concluded that it was a full-grown male. "All the other, larger specimens have been female," Landman says. "For the first time, we can infer that there is a difference in size between the males and females."

Giant squid have never been observed in the ocean because they swim in very deep waters--probably as far down as 3,000 feet. Scientists aren't sure how many of them exist or where in the world others may live. Don't hold your breath waiting for answers. "Anyone who has gone out to see a giant squid has never succeeded," says Landman. "It is an elusive animal."

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