THE GIANT CUTTLE FISH.

Poverty Bay Herald, Issue 1137, 2 October 1880, Page 2

THE GIANT CUTTLE FISH.

Many interesting facta relating to the North American giant cuttle-fish have been recently laid by Professor Verriil before the Connecticut Academy. The banks of the Newfoundland coast would seem to be the headquarters for these cephalopoda. One was seen on the beach at Lance Cove, Trinity Bay, still alive and struggling desperately to escape. It was being borne in by a " spring tide " and a high, inshore wind. In its struggles to get off it ploughed up a trench or furrow about 30 feet long, and of considerable depth, by the stream of water which, it ejected with great force from its syphon. When the tide receded it died. Its body was nearly 11 feet long, its short arms were 13 feet iv length and much thicker than a man's thigh, and its teutacular arm i were each 33 feet long, But this hms scarcely more than half' the ; size of a specimen taken at a place • called Thimble Tickle. A fisherman was out in a boat with two other men. Ndff far from the shore they observed some bulky object, and supposing it might be part of a wreck they rowed towards it, and to their horror found themselves close to a huge fish having large glassy eyes, which was making desperate efforts to escape, and churning the water into foam by the motion of its immense arms and tail. It was aground and the tide was ebbing. From the funnel at the back of the head it was ejecting large volumes of water. At times the water thrown out was as black as ink. Finding the monster partly disabled, the fishermen plucked up courage and ventured near enough to throw the grapnel of their boat, the sharp flukes ot which, having barbed points, sank into the soft body. To the grapnel they had attached a stout rope which they carried ashore and tied to a tree. As the cuttle-fish found itself moored its struggles were terrific, and in a dying agony it flung its ten arms wildly about, and as the tide receded it became exhausted and died. It was a splendid specimen, the largest yet actually measured, being 20 feet in length from its beak to its tail and with arms upwards of 35 feet long.