Monday, September 21, 2009

Deep Sea News - Architeuthis Caught

Quick, what's 19.5 feet long and over 109 pounds of raw muscle?

The answer to that question can be found this week at Deep Sea News , one of the coolest blue blogs running right now. A place for all things "deep sea discovery":

Scientists from NOAA’s Fisheries Service have captured a giant squid while conducting research off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico. This is only the second known giant squid obtained from the Gulf of Mexico – the first was collected in 1954 off the Mississippi Delta where it was found floating dead at the surface.

This giant squid was collected on July 30, during a 60-day scientific study where scientists from NOAA’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center and the Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service were studying the availability and diversity of sperm whale prey. The scientists were aboard the NOAA research vessel Gordon Gunte when the squid was caught in a trawl pulled behind the research vessel at a depth of more than 1,500 feet.