Rare giant squid unexpectedly caught in Gulf of Mexico
Researchers studying sperm whales accidentally caught and killed a rare giant squid while trawling in the Gulf of Mexico.
Photo: NOAA 
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You giant squid rawrrawrrawr! Nom nom eat you for lunch!
If they are down there researching the diet of sperm whales, why do they have a trawling net in the water? Those nets are huge and entrap anything and everything as happened here. Who is funding this so-called research? This rare animal died being hauled from it's home of what sounds like "the bends" Inexcusable.
Since the whales themselves are rare and protected, the only way to study their feeding would be to "simulate" whale feeding with a net. Most of the other available data is from stomach contents. I am only speculating, but they were probably trying to assess the concentration and variety of prey species.
The nets commonly used in this sort of sampling are not the huge drift nets or purse seines used in commercial fishing. They are usually a sort of a "wind sock" net with a rigid frame.... More
