Beachgoers recently came across a giant alive squid, a marine species, washed up on the shores of Britannia Bay, located in the Western Cape province of South Africa.
Estimated to be around 200-300 kg, people who found tried to roll the squid back into the water, but couldn’t do it. In the end, they decided to leave the animal to “die in dignity”, reported News24.com quoting Richard Davies who had his encounter with the animal.
“It was sad because I could see it was dying," Davies told the portal.
"It was still pumping out ink and I touched one of its tentacles which sucked onto my hand and I actually had to use some force to remove it,” said Davies.
Soon the people informed marine biologists of the discovery and the news report said the rare creature has been preserved by Iziko Museums. Currently, the menagerie has a collection of 19 giant squid.
The report further said the animal is not fully grown, as it is measured over 4 meters.
Speaking to the portal, Dr Wayne Florence marine biologist and curator of marine invertebrates for the Iziko Museums of South Africa, said, “since this giant squid is just over 4m in total length, based on expert opinion of other larger specimens, this beast was probably less than two years old”.
Florence said in 1992 the largest squid was discovered in South Africa and it measured 9.1 meter.
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