The Unforgiving Minute » squid http://www.currion.net Paul Currion struggles to explain himself. Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:07:29 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Is it Colossal, and is it a squid? http://www.currion.net/2008/04/28/colossal-squidlike/ http://www.currion.net/2008/04/28/colossal-squidlike/#comments Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:00:16 +0000 Paul Currion http://www.currion.net/?p=146 It must be a Colossal Squid. Some of you may already know that I am a big fan of Colossal Squid (known to their mates as Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni), to the extent that I once developed a treatment for a film about my own hunt for the colossal squid that took my left eye. The plan was that the film would be a huge success and the profits would pay for me to actually go on the hunt for the colossal squid that the film depicted. Now that’s some metafiction right there.

What do I love about Colossal Squid?

  1. Whale vs Squid action. “The colossal squid… was identified first in 1925 from two tentacles found in a sperm whale’s stomach. These deep-diving toothed whales regularly do battle with Mesonychoteuthis and other giant cephalopods such as the giant squid of the Architeuthis genus.”
  2. Tentacle club with swivelling hooks. They come in handy for the whale vs squid action. They also have the largest eyes in the animal kingdom, but what are they going to do – have a staring contest with a sperm whale?
  3. Poor dining. “Calamari as big as car tires might sound an appetizing idea, but jumbo-sized squid usually contain high levels of ammonia and their meat is said to taste like floor cleaner.” That’s right – even if the whale wins, the whale loses.
  4. Own blog and webcam. That’s right – the Museum of New Zealand’s Te Papa centre is defrosting and examining their specimen, so you can visit the blog or view the webcams. I’m looking forward to pay-per-view whale vs squid action – now that’s entertainment!
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