According to the Interior Department, a team of American scientists in the Gulf of Mexico netted a 5.9-metre giant squid off Louisiana’s coast.
The 46.7-kilogram giant squid was caught in a trawl net from a research vessel on 30 July.
The giant squid did not survive when brought to the surface due to the rapid change in water depth. The squid was preserved and its remains were sent to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History for further analysis.
The team aboard the research vessel included scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service.
"As the trawl net rose out of the water, I could see that we had something big in there...really big," said Anthony Martinez, the chief scientist on the research vessel and NOAA’s marine mammal scientist.
The research team was aware of the presence of the giant squid because its remnants had been found in its predators’ stomachs in the waters of the Caribbean, Florida Keys and Gulf of Mexico.
Since the species is difficulty to catch, the researchers’ discovery opens the opportunity to learn more about them.
According to Director Michael Vecchione of NOAA's Fisheries Service's National Systematics Laboratory, the giant squid’s discovery was an important addition to the global study of squids.
The 46.7-kilogram giant squid was caught in a trawl net from a research vessel on 30 July.
The giant squid did not survive when brought to the surface due to the rapid change in water depth. The squid was preserved and its remains were sent to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History for further analysis.
The team aboard the research vessel included scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service.
"As the trawl net rose out of the water, I could see that we had something big in there...really big," said Anthony Martinez, the chief scientist on the research vessel and NOAA’s marine mammal scientist.
The research team was aware of the presence of the giant squid because its remnants had been found in its predators’ stomachs in the waters of the Caribbean, Florida Keys and Gulf of Mexico.
Since the species is difficulty to catch, the researchers’ discovery opens the opportunity to learn more about them.
According to Director Michael Vecchione of NOAA's Fisheries Service's National Systematics Laboratory, the giant squid’s discovery was an important addition to the global study of squids.
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