Giant squid
Image: Paul McCoy
Source: DPI Victoria
On Thursday 17th of July, Melbourne Museum held its first ever public dissection by Museum scientists of a giant squid.
The dissection was performed in the Science and Life Gallery from 11.30 am till 1 pm. The dissection was streamed live, and a recording can be viewed here or downloaded.
The squid which was accidentally caught in a fishing trawl off western Victoria, weighs around 245 kg, making it the largest giant squid that Australian researchers have encountered. It is estimated that, intact, the animal would have been over 12 metres long.
“This is the first time the Museum has done a dissection in a public forum, and we expect the interest to be enormous,” said Dr Mark Norman, world-renowned squid expert and Deputy Head of Science (Marine Zoology), Museum Victoria.
“With this public dissection, we hope to achieve greater awareness and understanding of these little-known and rarely-seen deep-sea creatures" Dr Norman said.