July 3, 2003 ? Puzzled scientists are examining the mysterious remains of a gelatinous sea creature found washed up on a Chilean beach.

 

The remains, 12.4 meters (41 feet) in length and weighing 13 tons, was first thought to be the skin of a whale when it was discovered June 24 near Maullin on the Pacific Ocean coast, the Center for Cetacean Conservation said Wednesday.

 

"We have never seen such a strange creature before," said Elsa Cabrera, a marine biologist and director of the center for cetacean conservation in Santiago, told The Guardian newspaper in London.

"We don't know if it might be a giant squid that is missing some of its parts, or maybe it is a new species."

 

Scientists examined and photographed the remains and took samples to send to laboratories in France, Italy and the United States for study, Cabrera said, a center official.

 

Italian zoologist Lorenzo Rossi, a specialist in marine fauna, said after receiving photographs that it was a giant squid, Cabrera said.

 

Veterinarian Veronica Altoyo said there are clear similarities of skin, color and body shape between the two specimens.

 

Chilean scientists also have requested information on the specimen found in Florida from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.

 

www.discovery.com

this is pretty cool stuff...

 

it's said that giant squid swim 2,000 feet below the surface trying to steer clear of giant sperkm whale

 

their eyes are the size of hubcaps, and their 'legs' are supposedly like anacondas capturing their prey and poisoning them with the tentacles

that thing is huge.

It looks like the Alien from the Movie Independance Day

Whoa! Pretty cool. It huge, i Hope the scientists tell us more about it.

Do you there's more of those things?

see folks, this is one of the beauties of science.

 

 

With science we can learn so much about our surroundings, about our world, about this place we call Earth.

 

 

But nobody wants to do the work necessary to fully understand the scientific principles involved.

 

 

This is an exciting discovery. I wish more would be entralled by this discovery, it truly is amazing. Instead of playing video games and the such, we should devote more to education and learning. And we would garnish a much better understanding of what makes our world 'tick'