Remember the news of the very large, appropriately named Colossal Squid just captured?

Here’s an update, via news services, which are reporting, in part:

Scientists at New Zealand’s national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa, have taken possession of the beast that took fishermen two hours to land after it was netted by chance in Antarctic waters last month and was frozen soon afterward to preserve it.

Expert Steve O’Shea said the squid had weighed in at 1,089 pounds and measured 33 feet long — heavier but shorter than initial estimates of 990 lbs and 39 feet.

It appears to be by far the largest specimen of the rare and mysterious deep-water species Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, or colossal squid, ever caught….

O’Shea said scientists at the museum are considering using a giant microwave oven as a possible way to defrost the animal so they can study it.Associated Press, March 22, 2007

The 1,089 pound, 33 feet long squid, when it was first hauled beside the fishing boat. Picture: NZ Ministry of Fisheries / AAP

My thanks to a well-known Hollywood director who forwarded me this story on Thursday, but which I was only able to get to on the weekend.