(The Telegraph.co.uk)
TV fisherman films shark attacking giant squid off coast of Australia
A TV fisherman and his crew film an incredible encounter between a near 15ft long giant squid and a hungry shark off the coast of southeastern Australia.
3:23PM BST 06 Jun 201230 Comments
The giant squid, one of the most elusive creatures of the ocean, was already dead when it was found floating off the coast of New South Wales by Al McGlashan and his crew.
A fishing columnist for Australia's Daily Telegraph, Mr McGlashan was filming for a new series of his television series Strikeforce, when he came across the "mythical" cephalopod.
"In all my time of fishing, I've never seen calamari rings so big," he told local media. "It was massive."
"It must have died not that long before we found it because it didn't smell at all and its colours were still strong - most giant squid remains are smelly and rotten and just off-white by the time someone finds them,"
Soon after the discovery the carcass was soon attacked by an 8ft blue shark, an event that McGlashan and his team were able to record.
"It hoed into the squid straight away and didn't care a bit that it was right next to us; it was taking great chunks out of the squid in one bite," Mr McGlashan said.
"It goes to show not much goes to waste in the natural world. Everything gets recycled somehow."
Squid expert Mandy Reid confirmed that the creature was probably not long dead when it was discovered, judging from its bright colour.
She also believed the squid had either naturally come to the end of what is a short life, or been attacked by a sperm whale.
"Most squid only live for a year, they grow extremely quickly, but there is also a chance that it has been attacked by a sperm whale," Ms Reid said.
"Sperm whales are far bigger, heavier and faster in the water, the giant squid are quite slow, so the whale generally wins."
For more images of the giant squid see www.almcglashan.com
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