Out of its natural habitat, the giant squid Architeuthis dux is something of a flop. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e so heavy, they collapse under their own weight. You lose the lovely cylindrical mantle and arms,鈥� says Steve O鈥橲hea, squid expert at the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand.
But now for the first time, two huge giant squid specimens are being prepared to go on display. And the preparation is being done by controversial German anatomist Gunther von Hagens, who will use the 鈥減lastination鈥� technique that he uses to display human bodies.
Von Hagens invented plastination while at the University of Heidelberg in the 1970s. The process involves replacing water and fat in the corpse with a polymer, and it has allowed him to exhibit dissected human bodies in life-like poses. But a giant squid, with its lack of a rigid internal skeleton for support, and relatively poorly understood circulatory system, poses some novel challenges.
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To research the project, von Hagens visited O鈥橲hea in October to study some much smaller species such as arrow squid. 鈥淲e dissected a number of 聭sacrificial鈥� squid,鈥� says O鈥橲hea. This week, O鈥橲hea sent a mature female giant squid, measuring about 10 metres including tentacles, and a mature male, just under 7 metres, to Heidelberg.
The plastination process could take up to a year, and the squid will need a rigid framework for support, but O鈥橲hea is confident that von Hagens will be able to display the animals.