Imagine you’re out for a paddle, no doubt achieving inner peace whilst being at one with the ocean, when you come across an injured giant squid.

That’s what happened to paddle boarder James Taylor up in Melkbosstrand back in March, although it’s only now that his video is really grabbing headlines.

He uploaded the video to Facebook last week, and we found more info via EarthTouchNews:

In this case, roping the animal to shore was not an attempt to save its life – Taylor suspected it was already a goner. “I wanted to try get it to the beach for research purposes before it got more damaged by seals in the area,” he clarified…noting that the squid was lethargic, missing several tentacles and covered with bite marks.

“It was quite badly injured and barely alive when I caught it. It didn’t even really try and get away, so we ended up putting it out of its misery when we got to the beach. It felt like the best thing to do at the time.”

Here’s that video:

Like anything that starts to spread on Facebook, negative comments soon followed. Taylor was not giving in:

Taylor stands by his decision to haul the animal to shore.

“We did contact the waterfront aquarium [once on the beach],” he adds. “We dissected it and took a bunch of videos and photos that we later sent to them. They sent these on to a professor who has been studying giant squid in South Africa for the last 15 years and he was very excited about the find.”

According to Taylor, this animal was identified by local researchers as a true giant squid (genus Architeuthis).

Via Cape Fishing Magazine, some footage of the squid once it reached the beach:

There’s still some debate around whether it’s a true giant squid, Architeuthis, but Smithsonian Museum of Natural History invertebrate zoologist Dr. Mike Vecchione says he is sold:

“The footage on the beach looks like a giant squid to me,” he says…

“If these squid are in the shallows, they’re sick or dying.” he says. “As long as [Taylor] contacted researchers, there really wasn’t anything ‘bad’ done here.” The exact cause of death is difficult to pin down, but the squid may have been attacked by a predator while still in its deep-sea habitat.

“There have been a few recorded cases of sperm whales catching giant squid, then bringing them to the surface to feed their young,” adds Vecchione. “And occasionally the whales don’t eat them for whatever reason.” That said, illness could just as likely be the culprit here.

We’ll take Mike’s word for it – giant squid it is.

Between them and the great white shark-eating orcas (HERE), the ocean is one helluva ride.

[source:earthtouchnews]