newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

A fishing trip lead by Al McGlashan off the coast of Australia began in search of tuna and swordfish. However, it turned into the discovery of the body of a dead giant squid, reported to be anywhere from 9 to 13 feet long. While McGlashan was filming the squid, a shark took advantage of an opportunity to feed.

Now, a video called "Giant Squid Attack by Shark" has gone viral on Youtube, with more than 3 million views.

According to the Long Island Press, the video shows an extremely rare squid being eaten by an 8-foot blue shark. The squid seemed to have been attacked by a sperm whale or another squid before the shark encounter.

The squid was still fresh enough to retain its ruby red coloring. Finding parts of a dead squid is considered rare, but to find one intact still holding its coloration is even more unusual.

McGlashan writes a weekly fishing column for the Daily Telegraph. He told the paper, "It must have died not long before we found it because it didn't smell at all and its colors were still strong - most giant squid remains are rotten and just off-white by the time someone finds them.”

Mandy Reid of the Australian Museum said that squid can grow up to 40 feet, according to Christian Post. She said for the squid to be floating on the surface missing parts of its tentacles that it must have just recently died.

According to Grind TV, the first images of a live giant squid were not filmed until 2004, when Japanese scientists took them in a sperm whale feeding area 600 miles south of Tokyo. Sperm whales are predators that specifically go after giant squid.