Australia spurs another base for a scenario

This sounds "Beth-ly" (a member of the GZG list for the others and a
bio-science type with an affinity for rolling 1's)  and also pretty good
idea for a SF underwater scenario - find the missing link fishie
thing...

Gracias,
Glenn/Triphibious@juno.com
This is my Science Fiction Alter Ego E-mail address.
Historical - Warbeads@juno.com
Fantasy and 6mm - dwarf_warrior@juno.com

--------- Begin forwarded message ----------
From: "Wilson, Glenn M." <WilsonG@nima.mil>
<snip>
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1898000/1898313.stm

Thursday, 28 March, 2002, 10:34 GMT 
	      Giant octopus puzzles
	      scientists
						    
	      Out of the freezer: Dismissed at first as just another
giant
squid

	      By Kim Griggs 
	      in Wellington, New Zealand 

	      What is thought to be the biggest octopus ever found
	      has been caught in waters off New Zealand. 

	      Marine biologist Dr Steve
	      O'Shea estimates the
	      specimen, which was
	      damaged when fished up,
	      would have measured four
	      metres in length and
	      weighed 75 kilograms. 

	      "That's a conservative estimate," Dr O'Shea told BBC
	      News Online. "It is an absolutely massive octopus." 

	      The incomplete specimen has a mantle length (the
	      standard measure of length in octopus and squid) of
	      0.69 metres, a total length of 2.9 metres and a weight
	      of 61 kg. 

	      Not a squid 

	      Octopus (Haliphron) had previously been thought to
	      reach a mantle length of only 0.4 metres and a total
	      length of 2 metres. 

	      "Nothing remotely
	      comparable to the size of
	      the New Zealand
	      specimen has ever been
	      described before," Dr
	      O'Shea said. 

	      The octopus was caught
	      last October in 920
	      metres of water south
	      east of the Chatham
	      Islands, by the research
	      ship of New Zealand's
	      National Institute of Water
	      and Atmospheric
	      Research (NIWA). 

	      At first, Dr O'Shea paid little attention to the red
	      gelatinous specimen, thinking it was just another
	      example of his research specialty, the giant squid. 

	      Freezer clear-out 

	      "I have a freezer full of squid. And I looked at this and
I
	      just thought, 'Heavens, it's a pretty beat up sort of
	      squid'. And I wasn't in any hurry to defrost it. Then I
	      had a freezer clean-out and I had no idea what it was."

	      He has provisionally identified the sub-mature female
	      as being Haliphron atlanticus. Adding to the mystery,
	      this particular species has never been caught before in
	      the South Pacific. 

	      There are some records from around Japan,
	      Papua-New Guinea and from the Atlantic. "The New
	      Zealand form that we have is more similar to a species
	      which was recorded off Japan in 1902 than it is to the
	      Atlantic species. 

	      "So although I call it Haliphron atlanticus, that's a very
	      provisional identification." 

	      Splendid sight 

	      Dr O'Shea is also puzzled by the fact the New Zealand
	      research institute has never seen juveniles of this
	      species in New Zealand waters. 

	      This is despite the fact that the area where the
	      octopus was found is extensively trawled by
	      commercial fishing vessels and unusual specimens
	      are routinely passed to NIWA. 

	      "I don't believe that this animal is residing in New
	      Zealand at all. It could have been something that's
	      migrated in from spectacular depth. 

	      "Not only is it not residing in New Zealand waters, I
	      don't believe we get the full life history of the species
	      in New Zealand," he said. 

	      The undamaged octopus would have been a splendid
	      sight: all the arms would have been connected by a
	      thick web. 

	      "It would have looked like a huge jellyfish or a great big
	      thick umbrella," Dr O'Shea said. 

	      Pictures courtesy of the New Zealand National
	      Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research
--------- End forwarded message ----------

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