The elusive giant squid, made infamous in fiction as a terror of the deep, is becoming less of a mystery.

More examples of the mysterious sea creature have been dropped at the door of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) in Wellington during the past week than have been found worldwide in a decade.

Caught in nets by commercial fishing boats hunting for hoki off the West Coast, the giant squid are destined to become museum exhibits.

Fifteen of them now sit in Niwa freezers.

Niwa scientist Dr Steve O'Shea, thawing out one of the giants in his aquarium yesterday, told the Herald that museums in Bermuda, Germany, France and the United States were keen to obtain an example of the species.

The creature is so rarely seen that a live adult has never been found - despite intensive searches.

Dr O'Shea describes as "just a baby" one example weighing 120kg and stretching its tentacles to a length of 5.5m.

The surprisingly spongy and delicate giant feeds on hoki and lives at a depth of 500m.

Its eight arms and two longer tentacles are fitted with suckers carrying teeth sharp enough to easily gore flesh.

The species appears to come to New Zealand waters twice a year to breed. In winter it is found off the West Coast of the South Island, and near Banks Peninsula in summer.

The extent of its presence has attracted international attention, and Dr O'Shea's research has focused on the creature for more than a year.

"We've found out a lot about these animals in the past year and a half.

"Initially I hated these things. Really hated them. There's just so much work involved in them. But now I see them as a good challenge."

He recounts picking up his first giant squid from a Wellington wharf in 1996, and the battle that took place as he struggled to fit the creature into his car.

Eventually using a trailer and draping some of the tentacles out onto the car, he drove the 200kg giant around the capital's bays to his "office".

The heaviest giant squid he has encountered at Niwa weighed 300kg - a female, because females are always larger than males.

Surrounded by a variety of strange-looking deepwater species, including something that looks remarkably like a pumpkin, Dr O'Shea looks as comfortable as a fish in water.

"Can you imagine seeing one of these alive," he says in awe of the giant squid.

"The only problem is that the fishy smell gets into every pore of my body. My wife won't go near me."

• Story originally published by:
New Zealand Herald | Paula Oliver - Aug 27.01

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