News

Filming gets underway next week when NHNZ crew will document the first scientific investigation ever of an adult colossal squid by New Zealand's national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa.

The largest known specimen of colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni), caught by the San Aspiring in the Ross Sea and gifted to Te Papa in February 2007 by the Ministry of Fisheries, is scheduled for defrosting and examination on Wednesday April 30.

NHNZ will be filming the entire process for a Discovery Channel in-depth documentary to be released worldwide in late 2008 as part of their support of the Te Papa colossal squid preservation program. Discovery Channel is also helping to support the research project.

NHNZ Director of Marketing and Development Neil Harraway said the company was thrilled to be involved in the ground-breaking scientific project.

"The colossal squid has a universal appeal to everyone's imagination that reaches beyond the scientific community. There is real synergy between the researchers' aim of yielding new scientific facts and NHNZ's reputation for bringing new stories to the world's attention."

Te Papa's Natural Environment Director Dr Carol Diebel said Dr Steve O'Shea and Ms Kat Bolstad of Auckland University of Technology and Dr Tsunemi Kubodera of Japan's National Museum of Nature and Science will lead the examination of "this unique and important specimen."

The Discovery Channel's Senior Science Editor, Paul Gasek, said they were proud to be a partner in this important project.

"It is rare to be able to study this kind of specimen up close. We hope scientists will be able to learn more about the colossal squid and provide valuable information for future research," he said.

The squid, weighing 495kg and estimated to be 6 - 8m long, will be removed from storage in a walk-in freezer and placed in a temporary tank filled with a salty (saline) solution. Salty water freezes at a lower temperature than freshwater thus ensuring the solution in the tank will remain at or below zero degrees while melting the freshwater block of ice surrounding the squid. This results in a gradual defrosting process that may take up to three to four days but helps to keep the squid in good condition for dissection and preservation.

The scientists will examine the squid's anatomy in detail, take measurements, remove the stomach (and its contents), beak and other mouthparts; and determine the sex of the squid. In addition, the scientists will take tissue samples for DNA analysis. They will have to work quickly as the specimen, once defrosted, will start to degrade or rot.

Mr Harraway said in addition to the research, the documentary would also feature the challenges the assignment poses to a crack team of squid specialists.

"“This priceless specimen has created a range of technical and scientific challenges for the scientists involved. We'll also be focussing our cameras on how they achieve their aims in what will be an extremely testing research environment."

Finally the specimen will be fixed in a formalin solution for 3-4 weeks, prior to being placed in a purpose-built tank for display at Te Papa in the latter quarter of this year.

"Interest in the colossal squid has been huge and while the general public won't be able to access the confined space of the thawing and dissection laboratory, they will be able to watch the thaw and examination through live webcam which will be available from Te Papa's and Discovery Channel's websites," Dr Diebel said.

Colossal squid are found in Antarctic waters and are not related to giant squid (Architeuthis species) found around the coast of New Zealand. While the giant squid has suckers lined with small teeth, the colossal squid has sharp swivelling hooks in the suckers at the tips of its tentacles, suggesting it is an aggressive hunter.