Giant squid found off the coast of Australia

A giant squid was discovered by a Daily Telegraph fishing columnist, Al McGlashan, who came across the remains about 50 kilometers off Jervis Bay, Australia.

The carcass of the squid measured about 12-feet long. Most of its tentacles had been bitten off. The Daily Telegraph theorized the squid possibly died in a fight to the death with its only known predator, a sperm whale, hundreds of meters below the surface.

"It must have died not that long before we found it because it didn't smell at all and its colors were still strong – most giant squid remains are smelly and rotten and just off-white by the time someone finds them," McGlashan reported.

"Most squid only live for a year, they grow extremely quickly, but there is also a chance that it has been attacked by a sperm whale," Australian Museum squid specialist Mandy Reid told News.com. 

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Giant squid have remained somewhat of a mystery in the marine biology world. It was not until 2004 that researchers from the National Science Museum of Japan and the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association took the first images of a live giant squid in its natural habitat.

In the researchers paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society, the group depicts a movie-worthy sea creature that is just as scary in real life. "Architeuthis (giant squid) appears to be a much more active predator than previously suspected, using its elongate feeding tentacles to strike and tangle prey," the abstract said. 

Due to the squid's weight, McGlashan was unable to haul the carcass onboard to bring it in for further observation. As shown in this video by The Telegraph, the creature was left as bait for the sharks.