The State : Academy Gets Rare Squid

An eight-foot-long giant Pacific squid--one of the rarest creatures in the ocean--has been added to the world’s largest collection after almost being chopped up by a Bay Area fish market. The squid was netted by the crew of a fishing boat off Half Moon Bay. It wound up in the Berkeley Bowl Fish Market but was given to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, because market owner Ted Iijama, a former marine biology teacher, recognized the squid’s value. The museum now has four giant Pacific squids. Only eight have ever been captured. The latest specimen was preserved in formalin and will be displayed but will be primarily used for study. It was estimated to be a half-grown juvenile. The Pacific giant squid can grow as long as 16 feet.