Well-Preserved Carcass of a 10-Foot-Long Giant Squid Found Floating Off the Coast of Canary Islands

The giant squid is rarely seen on the surface as it lives deep beneath the ocean. But one recent finding of the species had experts in awe because of its stunningly preserved condition, unlike previous specimens found.

Jon Ablett, the senior curator of mollusks and cephalopods at the Natural History Museum in London, told Newsweek that most specimens found in museums and studied in research come from the stomach contents of sperm whales or those specimens being washed up on beaches that are in poor condition or incomplete.

Rare Intact Specimen of Giant Squid Found

Naturalist and photographer Teo Lucas found the 10-foot-long giant squid floating in the sea off the coast of Tenerife in the Canary Islands. He sent the 440-pound squid to the Spanish Institute of Oceanography for further study.

It was an unusual specimen given it is almost entirely intact, aside from the missing end of one of its tentacles that is thought to have been bitten off by the animal that killed it. Even its enormous eyes, which are usually missing in other specimens, are still in its socket.

Giant squids are known to have the largest eyes in the world that measures up to 10 inches in diameter or as big as a plate, per Smithsonian Ocean.

The Society for the Study of the Cetaceans in the Canary Archipelago (SECAC) said in a Facebook post that the massive mollusk was only a juvenile and that adults could grow even bigger.

Ablett noted that the giant squid (Architeuthis dux) could reach lengths up to 39 feet (12 meters), while the colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) is even larger in terms of mass and length that no one has ever found a fully mature specimen.

Despite the large size of giant squids, they are rarely found which makes estimates of them challenging. But Ablett said that giant squids may not be as rare in nature given the specimens they found in the stomach of sperm whales, which are the major predator of adult giant squids.

A 2013 study published in BioOne by Clyde Rober and Elizabeth Shea estimated that up to 131 million giant squids are being eaten by sperm whales every year. Giant squids can be found anywhere in the ocean, although they rarely appear in the polar and equatorial regions. Usually, they are in New Zealand, Japan, North Atlantic, and South Africa.

Due to their elusive nature, knowledge about them is limited. Therefore, Lucas' specimen plays an important role in understanding the biology of this king-sized squid.

Giant Squid Sculpture Marks Site Where Real-Life Specimen Was Found

According to Atlas Obscura, the Canadian fishing village of Glover's Harbor, Newfoundland earned the distinction of the "Home of the Giant Squid" in 1878 when a living giant squid was found stranded offshore.

It was named the "Thimble Tickle Specimen" in honor of Newfoundland's former name. The squid was reported to be about 55 feet (16.8 meters) long with a body that measured 20 feet in length and a tentacle measuring 35 feet long.

It was posthumously recognized by the Guinness World Records as a world record holder and is still recognized as the heaviest giant squid ever found, and also holds the record for the largest animal eye measures 15.75 inches in diameter.

In 2001, a sculpture that match the apparent size of the real-life squid was made to mark the site where it was found. It was created by fine arts teacher Don Foulds with the help of his students.

Here's a video of the giant squid found off the coast of Tenerife, Canary Islands:

Check out more news and information on the Giant Squid in Science Times.