A new giant squid sighted in New Zealand. An amazing creature, met almost by chance by three brothers along the coast of Wellington, last weekend. But where exactly do these large marine animals live?
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himA new giant squid sighted in New Zealand. An amazing creature, met almost by chance by three brothers along the coast of Wellington, last weekend. But where exactly do these large marine animals live?
Daniel, Jack and Matthew Aplin were walking along the coast, looking for the perfect spot to dive when suddenly their attention was caught by something else.
“My brother said 'what's over there?'” Daniel Aplin told The New Zealand Herald.
The three did not believe their eyes. It was in fact a large beached squid, whose tentacles far exceeded the height of the three brothers, incredulous: "We have never seen anything like this before."
The squid was about 4,5 meters long. Unfortunately the animal was already dead and it was not possible to help him in any way. It is still unclear why this giant squid went ashore, although these events are not common they are not rare either. And they don't necessarily suggest something threatening.
The giant squid
Second a spokesperson for the New Zealand Department of Conservation, the huge animal was almost certainly a giant squid (Architeuthis sp.), a species that lives in deep water.
Not only is it the largest known cephalopod in the world, it is also the largest mollusk and arguably the largest invertebrate.
On average, giant squid have a length ranging from 3 to 9 meters although they can reach 13 meters. The head, body, arms and tentacles usually weigh around 455 kg.
Where do giant squid live?
The sightings of these squid seem more and more frequent, both in the water and unfortunately on the beaches. But where do they live? According to one study of the Cnr, these animals (genus Architeuthis) have been sighted over time in numerous areas of the world, from the China Sea to Northern Europe to the Atlantic Ocean.
The first information on the probable existence of the mollusk dates back to Aristotle's 'History of animals'. The Institute of Information Science and Technology 'A. Faedo 'of the National Research Council (Isti-Cnr) of Pisa last year produced a map of sightings of the squid and the first timeline on this mollusk in waters around the world, through the use of Big data, Cloud computing and digital infrastructures (collaborative computer networks).
Here is the map, Thu instead the timeline:
Creatures often considered legendary but real.
READ also:
- The horrifying spectacle of 10.000 giant squid beached in Chile (PHOTO)
- 8-meter giant squid filmed in the Pacific
Francesca Mancuso
Photo: Daniel Aplin
