A giant squid that surprised tourists on the coast of New Zealand

Excursion participants to Golden Bay – Mohua Beach in the South Island (New Zealand) and their guide Anton Donaldson, Farewell Spit Tours, will remember the visit on September 9 this year for a grand discovery.

Stranded in the sand and partially covered, tourists and a guide discovered the remains of a giant squid last week. Architeuthisundetermined species) counting the tentacles and may have reached a length of more than 4 m.

Exact measurements could not be taken because the remains of this deep-sea cephalopod were partially dismembered and probably eaten by fish.

Some media have attributed the pattern to race architeuthis dux But, in general, and despite the scientific controversy about the taxonomy of this species, precisely A. Dog Refers to the giant squid of the Atlantic Ocean, so they are unlikely to be found in New Zealand.

Giant squids, of which up to eight different species have been listed (taxonomy is under debate, we emphasize) live and feed in deep water, so human observation is extremely rare. In the majority of cases found, specimens of these species resemble accidental captures, fishing gear in search of other species, or what appears to be the Golden Bay Giant.

This is not the first time a squid of this species has been found on New Zealand’s beaches, in fact the same tour company, Farewell Spit Tours, maintains a picture of a similar specimen on its website in 2019, albeit smaller. In total, at least six dead giant squid have washed up on Gold Bay Nature Reserve’s beaches in the past 30 years, according to Farewell Spit Tours.

“Finding something as unique as a giant squid is special and exciting, but at the same time, we feel a certain sadness for such a creature. A wonderful example of a large sea creature living on the bottom of the sea, unfortunately killed that day. A beach. …”, collected Anton Donaldson. Explained in reports New Zealand Herald.

“It appeared [los tentáculos] They were chewed up by small sharks or other marine creatures like fish,” Donaldson said. “Although I’m not sure, my guess is that it was floating for a period of time and eventually washed up. Beach.”