On the beach of the Golden Bay, in New Zealand, a huge 4-meter squid washed up, part of the body of which was eaten by another marine inhabitant.
It happened on Sunday, September 11th. The find greatly surprised the tourists.
This was announced by tourist guide Anton Donaldson.
“For most, this opportunity comes once in a lifetime, if ever. You will not find this on every beach, because organic material does not last long on the beach, ”said the guide.
Donaldson said that the squid was gigantic – its length was about four meters. This creature was devoid of a tentacle, which was bitten off by small sharks or fish.
It is known that giant squids (architeutis) live at a depth of 300-1000 meters all over the Earth, but to fix them on camera, and even more so to see them in human habitats, is a huge rarity. Until 2004, these amazing creatures could not even be photographed, and they were filmed on a video camera only in 2006 near the Japanese islands of Ogasawara.
This squid is considered the second considered the second largest mollusc in the world – it is only ahead of the Antarctic giant squid, which can reach 13 meters in length. In turn, the maximum length from the end of the fins to the tips of the architeuthis’s trapping tentacles is approximately 8 meters. This creature has only one enemy – the sperm whale, for which the mollusk is the main diet, but sharks, killer whales and pilot whales can also eat it.
According to scientists, giant squids have the largest eyes among all representatives of the animal world. Their diameter is about 25 cm, which can be compared with an average plate. Thanks to them, these creatures catch reflections of bioluminescent light from prey at a depth of less than 300 meters.