Homework

The Colossal Squid

On the 31st of October, I went to up to Te Papa with my family. It had been a couple of years since we last went, but the new display that I was interested in this time, was that of the colossal squid.

It was captured by New Zealand fishermen as it swam for food in the Antarctic waters. It took them nearly two hours to catch the squid and it was nearly 10 meters long.

As the colossal squid has a deep-sea habitat, it makes them difficult to study, and almost everything scientists know about them has been from carcasses that have washed up on beaches.

The colossal squid have the largest eyes in the animal kingdom, measuring some 25 centimeters in diameter. These massive eyes allow them to detect objects in the deep sea where most other animals would see nothing.

Their diet consists of fish, shrimp, and other squid, and some suggest they might even attack and eat small whales. They bring the food to their mouths using their long feeding tentacles.

Te Papa have a fantastic video documenting how he was caught, studied and then prepared for his display in the museum. He has shrunk a little bit – but still looks big to me!!!!!!