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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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Giant Squid Storms Australia

Mysterious 26-foot sea beast is longer than a bus and weighs a quarter-ton

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(Newser) – A giant squid that weighs 550 pounds and measures 26 feet from the tip of its body to the end of its fearsome tentacles washed up on an Australian beach today. The rarely spotted sea creature is the largest specimen encountered since February, when fishermen in New Zealand netted a 33-foot catch that weighed 1,100 pounds.

A beachcomber found the underwater monster while walking along Ocean Beach, an island off the coast of Tasmania. Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, or colossal squids, live in the ocean depths near southern Australia; experts say they can grow up to 46 feet long. This one is headed to a museum, where it will undergo DNA tests and be preserved for public display.

In this photo released by Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service, a giant squid is seen after it washed up onto Ocean Beach in Strahan, Tasmania, Tuesday, July, 10. 2007. The squid, measuring 1 meter (3 feet) across at its widest point and 8 meters (26 feet) from the tip of...
In this photo released by Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service, a giant squid is seen after it washed up onto Ocean Beach in Strahan, Tasmania, Tuesday, July, 10. 2007. The squid, measuring 1 meter (3...   (Associated Press)
In this photo released by Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service, wildlife workers examine a giant squid after it washed up onto Ocean Beach in Strahan, Tasmania, Tuesday, July, 10. 2007. The squid, measuring 1 meter (3 feet) across at its widest point and 8 meters (26 feet) from the tip...
In this photo released by Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service, wildlife workers examine a giant squid after it washed up onto Ocean Beach in Strahan, Tasmania, Tuesday, July, 10. 2007. The squid, measuring...   (Associated Press)
In this photo released by Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service, a giant squid is seen after it washed up onto Ocean Beach in Strahan, Tasmania, Tuesday, July, 10. 2007. The squid, measuring 1 meter (3 feet) across at its widest point and 8 meters (26 feet) from the tip of...
In this photo released by Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service, a giant squid is seen after it washed up onto Ocean Beach in Strahan, Tasmania, Tuesday, July, 10. 2007. The squid, measuring 1 meter (3...   (Associated Press)
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Australia • New Zealand • Tasmania • giant squid • squid • Ocean Beach • Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni

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