OCEAN HUNTER Spearfishing & Freediving SpecialistsIf Squidward Q. Tentacles was this big then Spongebob would surely not be so cocky.
I mean look at the size of this – we couldn’t even fit its tentacles on the Facebook picture, and you’re not going to be paddling in the shallows and accidentally step on it – it’s 14-foot long.
But three brothers went for a morning dive on a Wellington beach and discovered the giant beast in the sands.
We shouldn’t joke too much, in fact we should show some respect for the dead because a Department of Conversation spokesman confirmed the carcass was a squid, The Sun reports.
Daniel, Jack and Matthew Alpin were driving along a path near Red Rocks on the city’s south coast when they made the discovery.
They had seen sharks before on their dives but nothing like this before. They contacted the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, who arranged to have the squid collected. Anyone else thinking of having calamari tonight?
It turns out the one they discovered is a relatively small giant squid; male giants can grow up to 33 feet long. The cephalopods have suckers and barbs running down their tentacles. You wouldn’t want to bump into one of these on a dive.
OCEAN HUNTER Spearfishing & Freediving Specialists/FacebookThey’re the biggest type of their kind aside from the colossal squid, and are mainly hunted by sperm whales, but juveniles are occasionally at the whim of deep-sea sharks.
Rumour has it giant squid up to 66-feet long have been sighted but not scientifically documented.
If you’re wondering how they go about eating their prey, which includes deep sea fish and other squid (cannibals!), they catch their dinner between two tentacles before chowing it down through their beaks before ingestion.
If you think you’re safe in UK waters then think again – a diver was bitten multiple times in waters off the coast of Cornwall.
The unnamed diver who uploaded her video online said:
I have swum with blue sharks before and was super excited to have the opportunity to do it again.
It was a couple miles off the south coast of Cornwall. As soon as I was in the water this time though there was a lot of interest.
There were so many different sharks that it was difficult to keep an eye on them coming at you from all angles.
I think there were about three in particular that repeatedly bumped and barged me, some even test biting with their mouths.
They then circled the boat ladder so I couldn’t get out. Then when I got on the boat, they breached the water to bite at me too! No wonder this species are nicknamed ‘The wolves of the sea’!
Sharks are definitely fin this summer, another group of about 20 sharks were spotted there recently. The school were papped knocking about off the coast of Penzance, and were believed to have been enticed by the warm weather.
Charles Hood, who runs Blue Sharks Cornwall, caught the amazing moment while giving punters the ‘ultimate shark adventure in Cornish waters.’
Think I’ll stay on the beach next time I’m down there.
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Tim Horner is a sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated with a BA Journalism from University College Falmouth before most his colleagues were born. A previous editor of adult mags, he now enjoys bringing the tone down in the viral news sector.