An elusive giant squid washed ashore Tuesday at La Arena beach in the Spanish community of Cantabria, LiveScience reports.
Although this particular giant squid certainly isn't the biggest one ever discovered, the specimen weighs in at an impressive 400 pounds and stretches to nearly 30 feet in length.
Eldiariomontanes.es reports that the giant squid is currently be kept at the Maritime Museum of Cantabria. Citing museum director Gerardo Garcia Castrillo, eldiariomontanes.es notes that museum officials are focused on preserving the creature. First, the beast will be thoroughly cleaned and then it will be frozen.
The creature is reportedly of the species "Architeuthis dux." Although the museum already has two similar examples of this species, the museum director told eldiariomontanes.es that they are other families and a lot smaller.
According to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, giant squid are believed to swim the ocean worldwide (check out a map of beaches where they've washed up). However, they're rarely discovered in tropical and polar regions. They typically wash up on the shores of New Zealand and Pacific islands, as well as a number of other locations detailed in the map.
The Smithsonian notes that the biggest giant squid ever documented by scientists was nearly 43 feet long, and may have weighed almost 2,000 pounds. Despite their size, giant squid are rarely observed. In fact, a lot of what scientists know about this creature comes from dead carcasses. However, in 2012 scientists from Japan's National Science Museum and their colleagues captured video of a giant squid in its natural habitat for the very first time.
"It was shining and so beautiful," Tsunemi Kubodera, a zoologist at Japan's National Museum of Nature and Science, told the AFP at the time.
According to National Geographic, the giant squid have the biggest eyes in the animal world, measuring approximately 10 inches in diameter. These large eyes give them the ability to see objects in the dark depths of the ocean. Their diet probably consists of fish, shrimp and other squid.
What would you do if you spotted a giant squid on the beach? Have you ever seen any animals wash ashore? Share your thoughts in the comments section.
