Giant Squid washed up on a beach near Hobart July 2002      

On Saturday 20 July, 2002, Tasmanian Museum zoologists were notified by Parks and Wildlife Staff of a Giant Squid on Seven Mile Beach. The Squid had washed ashore earlier that morning and by the time it was collected had broken into two pieces, but was still remarkably fresh. This is the third time in recent times that a giant squid has washed ashore in Southern Tasmania. It is interesting that all have been found on or around the 20 of July. The first was in 1986, then again in 1992 and this animal.

Although always thought to live in deep oceans, the freshness of this specimen makes us think that it was alive in the coastal waters off Tasmania. We wonder if these squid which like other squid probably have a synchronised breeding season are breeding in local waters.

The squid weighs about 250 kg and was found to be a recently mated female. We know this because small sperm packets were found imbedded just under the mantle. In this way the female squid stores the sperm to fertilise her eggs later. Her body also showed signs of a passionate embrace, there were sucker marks on her neck and a nip on her head from the males beak.

Some samples have been taken to age the animal and also to assess the molecular variation between populations.
Tasmania is also the home of the world’s smallest squid, Southern Pygmy Squid. These are 2 cm long. A fascinating fact about giant squid is that they grow from a few centimeters to 15 m in 3 or 4 years and the muscle structure to allow this growth is exactly the same shape and size of the Pygmy Squid.