Cape Town – In an extremely rare turn of events, a giant squid washed up in the Cape early on Tuesday with its comically big eyes and slippery tentacles on display across the rocky shores of Scarborough beach.
Another sea giant washed ashore just this morning.
The City alerted that a dead Pilot Whale calf was found on Table View beach – its Coastal Management Branch assisted with the removal of both the carcasses.
This is the second giant squid to wash ashore in the Cape this year.
In May, another giant squid washed ashore at Long Beach in Kommetjie but local fishermen took pieces of the giant squid carcass that could have assisted with discovering its cause of death.
Fortunately, Cape of Good Hope SPCA chief inspector Jaco Pieterse said marine scientists were able to get to this squid in time to sample its important parts and tissue before it was too late and learn more about the deep sea creature and its cause of death.
In South Africa, giant squid specimens were preserved in the natural science history collection of Iziko Museums, where 19 giant squids are currently stored.
Shark spotters project manager Sarah Waries said she came across the squid and tried to secure it for the museum but found out the Iziko Museums of South Africa had already taken measurements and samples earlier in the morning.
“We left it (the giant squid) there because it’s obviously, part of nature. It did not need to be removed. It does not pose a risk to anybody and the fishermen use it for bait which is fine since it’s already dead (and the necessary samples for research had been taken),” Waries said.
Marine scientist and curator at Iziko South African Museum, Dylan Clarke, said they were alerted to this stranding by Alastair Busby from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) unit based at the Sea Point research aquarium.
Busby was asked to collect various measurements, and tissue samples for genetics and the beak but unfortunately, by the time he got there the beak was already gone, he was however able to collect some tissue and get a total length of 4.26 m.
Clarke said this type of stranding was rare and very little information existed on the dynamics and size of the population in southern African waters.
"There is just not enough data to be able to estimate things like population size. We do collect tissue for genetics as a standard now as it may have future use in the determination and taxonomic status of the species globally," Clarke said.
“We could guess that deep ocean swell might have brought it to the surface where it became fatigued fighting the currents and found itself washed ashore, or it could have ingested a toxin of some sort or could have died from natural causes and floated ashore. We will wait to see what the biologists discover,” Pieterse said.
Spatial Planning and Environment Mayco member Eddie Andrews said the Coastal Management Branch alerted DFFE and sent out a team to collect the whale carcass and transported it to the Paarden Island facility for national government to undertake an autopsy to determine the cause of death.
“Pilot Whales are deep sea animals and we also get them often along our shore. It is not unusual for these animals to get stranded and we will keep on monitoring our coastline in the coming days,” Andrews said.
Two Oceans Aquarium spokesperson Renée Leeuwner said it was always important for samples to be taken as this assisted in scientific research, and with these animals living so deep in the ocean, they needed to be able to use every opportunity that presented itself.
kristin.engel@inl.co.za