Squid mystery

AUS_ Zoologists say it remains a mystery how a 440lb giant squid came to be washed up on Tasmania's west coast. The squid was found by a member of the public on a beach near Strahan on Tuesday night.

Zoologists from the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery say the squid's hood and body is more than 10footlong and they estimate its full size with tentacles would have been seven metres, with a weight of around 440lbs.

They believe it is the first of its kind to be washed up on the west coast.

The Museum's senior curator of invertebrate zoology Genefor Walker-Smith says it is exciting to be able to learn from the rare specimen, but it is still not clear how it died.

"There's no marks to suggest it was attacked by anything," she said. "It could have just died of old age."

The squid will be taken to Hobart for further examination later today.