Giant Squid washes ashore in England. PHOTOS/ DOC SINDOnews
As reported by the Mirror, Ziggy Austin was fishing in Hope’s Nose along the coast of Torquay when he and daughter Lauren noticed an unusual object floating in the sea which they thought was a broken fishing net.
“I saw it from the beach, then a big wave came and moved it, I was surprised to see it was an octopus,”
“So I went down to the edge of the rock, tugged at it with the end of my wand and then Lauren got his beard off and we kept dragging him over the sand. Many anglers who went there were also excited and took pictures with the squid,” he explained.
As a science teacher, scuba diver and adventurer, Austin admits to seeing lots of marine life but had never seen cuttlefish that big.
“This type of squid is usually around 30 to 91 centimeters (cm), but the one I saw at Hope’s Nose could be up to two meters wide and weigh more than 10 kilograms. This octopus must be the biggest I have ever seen,” he said.
Unfortunately, Austin said, the giant cuttlefish was already dead when it was found and he believes the deep-sea animal may have been eaten by seals, which often steal fish from fishing lines.
“It’s dead but still intact, so this squid is really fresh. The seal must have bitten off its head. His brain must be big,” he explained.
Austin plans to bring octopuses to class to show his students the extraordinary specimen and possibly cook one.
“I appeared on the Torquay edition of Come Dine With Me and won a cooking show a few years ago. So I am going to cook something special with this beautiful specimen after sharing a video about it on my Facebook Live channel as well as Youtube,” he added.
(wbs)
