Wednesday 29 June 2011

Rare giant squid specimen


Rare Deep-Water Giant Squid From South Florida Brought To UF For Research; 'It Took About Six People To Move It'
by Underwatertimes.com News Service - June 28,
GAINSVILLE, Florida -- University of Florida researchers received a rare 25-foot-long, deep-water giant squid Monday, the only one of its kind in the collections of the Florida Museum of Natural History. Recovered by recreational fishermen who found the creature floating on the surface about 12 miles offshore from Jensen Beach Sunday, museum scientists collected the specimen from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Tequesta Field Laboratory in Palm Beach County and returned to the Gainesville campus late Monday.
"It's so rare to get these specimens and they're such deep-water animals that we don't know much about how they live," said John Slapcinsky, Florida Museum malacology collection manager. "This specimen provides an excellent opportunity to learn things about these creatures we couldn't find out any other way."


I  can recommend The Underwater Times as a great source of information and stories both up to date and sometimes strange.

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