CURIOUS FIND

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22657, 19 February 1937, Page 10

CURIOUS FIND

- I ZOOLOGISTS PUZZLED MASS OF FLESH ON BEACH THEORY OF GIANT SQUID Zoologists aro puzzled about the identity of a strange bulky mass of animal flesh, presumed to weigh several hundredweight, which was recently washed ashore in the Kaipara Harbour inside the South Head. The flesh is white and apparently muscular, and a large slice examined at the Auckland War Memorial Museum led tho authorities to regard it as the head and base of the tentacles of a giant squid. Deeply embedded in the sand and covered with a coarse type of hair, tho mass lias a rounded surface. One way it measures 15ft., another Oft. It is thought to-have been washing about in tho sea for a fairly long time. Museum Investigators The general shape of the curiosity was uncovered by a party of museum investigators, including Messrs. E. G. Turbott, assistant zoologist, C. A. Fleming and 11. Waddell. A sketch was drawn, after which a block of the flesh was chopped out with a hatchet to he tested at the museum. Tho flesh was boneless, tough and fibrous, and the tissues failed to correspond with those of whale blubber, which was the first theory advanced by Mr. A. W. J3. Powell, an authority on marine substances, and Mr. 11. A. Falla, assistant director of tho museum. Numerous experiments .have been conducted, but no definite conclusion has been reached. Within a few days tho party of zoologists will revisit the scene in an attempt to extract, if it is there, tho horny mandible, or beak, which will establish the identity of the squid, in which there is no other bony part. Tho "Loch Ness Monster" If the substance proves to be that of a squid, tho discovery will bo of some scientific value. The only one found whole was washed ashore on the Miami sands, Florida, and measured 60ft. across. The squid is a species of octopus or cuttlo fish that develops to enormous dimensions. Residents of tho vicinity where the mass was discovered were quick to dub it another Loch Ness monster, according to a report from' the Helensville district. "There is this much foundation to such a belief," said Mr. Falla last night, "that one of the theories suggested as to the identity of the Loch Ness creature was that it might be a giant squid, tho curling tentacles of which were mistaken for the head and neck of the supposed monster. We are hopeful that our theory in the present case is true, particularly for scientific reasons.''