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Taxi-Sized Squid Caught off Louisiana

20-foot creature is the first giant squid ever netted by Gulf researchers

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 23, 2009 2:39 AM CDT

(Newser) – Scientists studying whale diets in the Gulf of Mexico unexpectedly hauled in a giant squid half as long as a school bus, Reuters reports. The 19.5-foot-long creature dragged up from 1,500 feet below the sea off Louisiana is the first giant squid found in the area in over 50 years and the first ever to be caught during research. The squid, which didn't survive the change in water depth, is being sent to the Smithsonian to be studied.

"As the trawl net rose out of the water, I could see that we had something big in there ... really big," said Anthony Martinez, a marine mammal scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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This 20-foot giant squid was hauled up by a trawl from 1,500 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico. (AP Photo/National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration)

Scientists arrange a giant squid hauled up from 1,500 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico on the NOAA research vessel Gordon Gunter. (AP Photo/National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration)

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This find illustrates how little we know about what is swimming around in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. - Michael Vecchione of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

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Taxi-Sized Squid Caught off Louisiana