This morning we took the smaller (200 kg) colossal squid out of the freezer. This specimen is reportedly in bad condition, so we will use it to study the anatomy in detail, and leave the larger specimen intact for display. Initial examination of the suckers of this specimen reveals some morphological details that we can’t account for – more thawing needed and we’ll update on what this means!
Because the specimen was in the back of the freezer we had to move the large colossal squid out briefly, then take out the smaller specimen. As soon as we put the large specimen back in the freezer, a refrigerated truck arrived with another 200+ kg giant squid – requiring more shuffling to get that one into the freezer!
We’re going to see what we can do about the audio on the webcast. If we can get any in, it won’t be more than an ambient microphone. We’ll keep you posted with our progress.
