Giant Squid

How do you get two dead Giant Squid the size of a school bus from a fishing boat in Spain to a museum in Washington, DC, USA? Call in the Navy! Find out how Operation Calamari unfolded and how the museum managed to put their new Giant Squid on display. Photo Credit: Glenn Rankin, Smithsonian Institution Download a transcript of this podcast read moreDuration: 3:33Published: Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:59:18 +0000

Architeuthis dux, largest of the three known species of giant squid, may reach 16 meters (50 feet) and weigh nearly a ton

3-D image (10502) of Cephalopoda beak - need 3-D glasses to view. upper beak, front view

Giant Squid NASA

This female giant squid, caught in a net by a Spanish fisherman in 2005, is on display in the Smithsonian’s Sant Ocean Hall

3-D image (10500) of Cephalopoda beak - need 3-D glasses to view. upper beak, front view

Recovered off the coast of Spain, this male giant squid is on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

right image (10483) upper beak, side view

This female giant squid, caught in a net by a Spanish fisherman in 2005, is on display in the Smithsonian’s Sant Ocean Hall

3-D image (10482) of Cephalopoda beak - need 3-D glasses to view. upper beak, side view

right image (10477) lower beak, posterior view

right image (10478) lower beak, posterior view

right image (10492) upper beak, oblique view

right image (10473) lower beak, posterior view

left image (10479) lower beak, posterior view

left image (10452) lower beak, top view

left image (10491) upper beak, oblique view

left image (10464) lower beak, oblique view

right image (10465) lower beak, oblique view

3-D image (10466) of Cephalopoda beak - need 3-D glasses to view. lower beak, oral view

3-D image (10468) of Cephalopoda beak - need 3-D glasses to view. lower beak, front view

right image (10469) lower beak, front view

left image (10471) lower beak, front view