Tourists Find 13-Foot Giant Deep-Sea Squid Carcass Beached in New Zealand

A 13-foot-tall giant deep-sea squid carcass is discovered by a group of tourists on New Zealand's sandy coastlines.

The squid was discovered while on a trip with Farewell Spit Tours in Golden Bay, New Zealand. As he guided the group along the beach in the tour bus, tour guide Anton Donaldson received a text message from a colleague informing him of an exciting surprise.

They arrived and discovered the 13-foot creature on the sand.

Squid Carcass

According to Donaldson, he informed the passengers, and the tourists all disembarked to take a look. All of the tourists were ecstatic to stumble upon such a rare sighting.

According to Donaldson, for the majority of people, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, if not even that. It isn't frequently discovered on any beach. People need to be around at the right time because organic material that washes up on the beach does not persist there.

According to Donaldson, the tentacles on it had been chewed back, and it appeared that small sharks or fish had done the chewing. Although Donaldson is unsure for sure, he surmises that it floated in the water for a while before washing ashore.

Giant Deep-Sea Squid

The creature, which measured almost 13 feet, was a giant squid, according to Donaldson. The second-largest mollusk after the colossal squid, the giant squid can reach lengths of up to 43 feet. Due to the distribution of the locations where bodies have washed ashore, it is believed that they are widespread. However, they are quite rarely seen alive and are typically only observed in the ocean at depths of between 1,000 and 3,300 feet.

The elusive species was not seen alive until 2005, and it was not until 2006 that it was seen on camera off the Japanese island chain of the Ogasawara. And per the Two Oceans Aquarium located in South Africa, there have only been 677 documented giant squid sightings throughout history.

According to National Geographic, the giant squid has the biggest eyes of any animal, measuring a hefty 10 inches in diameter, or the same size as a standard dinner plate. It is believed that these enormous eyes developed to help squid capture bioluminescent light fragments from prey in the deep dark waters beneath 1,000 feet.

The giant squid is frequently discovered in the stomachs of southern sleeper sharks, pilot whales, and occasionally killer whales in addition to being thought to be a common prey item for sperm whales. To add to that, other enormous squids eat them as well.

Rare Sighting, Sad Sighting

Donaldson added that it is a special experience for everyone involved when it is a little bit different. However, there was also some sadness about such a creature. Sadly, this magnificent representation of a sizable sea creature that once lived at the ocean's bottom was dead when it was found on the beach, Newsweek reports.