Calamari, anyone?
Headed for the Oven
A colossal half-ton squid, believed to be the largest ever caught, may be destined for the microwave oven. But researchers say they don't want to cook the massive creature — just defrost it so they can study it better.
A colossal squid, the stuff of ancient mariners' nightmares, is giving modern scientists a few headaches.
Caught in the Antarctic by fishers in February, the half-ton animal is likely the largest known colossal squid—and it may be headed for a giant microwave oven.
The colossal squid was frozen after capture to preserve it for study. But now thawing out its massive bulk poses a huge problem for Steve O'Shea, the Auckland University of Technology's resident squid expert, who is involved with the project.
"Our major concern is how to defrost this animal quickly," he says. "Conventional defrosting techniques on an animal this size would take [more than] four days."
The squid's mantle—the wide part of the body above the tentacles—is much harder than the soft tissue of the tentacles, posing a real danger of damage if the creature is simply left to thaw out naturally.
"Some tissues would have decomposed whilst the center of the animal would remain frozen," O'Shea said.
At the time it was caught, O'Shea said it would make calamari rings the size of tractor tyres if cut up — but they would taste like ammonia. Colossal squid can descend to 6,500 feet and are known to be extremely active, aggressive hunters. O'Shea said the squid is priceless to scientists, and would be worth many millions of dollars if insured.
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Colossal Squid May Be Microwaved 
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