Giant squids en route Smithsonian from Spain
by Lt. Mike Morley
ROTA, Spain (NNS) -- Naval Station Rota's logistics experts found themselves responsible for shipping rather unusual pieces of cargo July 10: two giant squids destined for a new home at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington.

Generally, personnel in Rota are involved in moving tons of equipment, spare parts and supplies to and from locations around the world.

"It's one of the more unusual things I've dealt with," said Chief Storekeeper (SW) Abraham Racela, warehouse logistics manager for Fleet Industrial Support Center Sigonella, Detachment Rota. "I was surprised when we got this."

The giant squids, a female measuring 26 feet in length and a 9-foot long male, were captured separately by fishermen off of Spain's northern coast in 1,300-foot deep water. When caught years ago, the female measured 36 feet in length, but it has shrunk considerably from being soaked in preservative fluid. Female giant squids are larger than males, and this female, is among the largest giant squid ever recovered.

The Smithsonian obtained the squid pair from the coordinator for the study and protection of marine species in Luarca, Spain.

"Due to the challenging size and nature of the cargo, it was decided that military aircraft would be more capable than commercial transport," said Robert Freeman, spokesman, Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy.

The Smithsonian asked the Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy for assistance in getting the oversized specimens to Washington and paid the government for transportation.

The squids left Rota on a U.S. Air Force C-5 Galaxy on July 11, bound for Dover, Del. The squid will eventually become part of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History's new Ocean Hall exhibit. Once open in September, Ocean Hall will be the largest permanent exhibit in the Museum of Natural History.

"This will be the first time in the U.S. that a male and female giant squid have been on display together," wrote Jill Johnson, exhibit developer at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

"The large female will be in the center of the hall," Johnson added, directly under the museum's famous model of a North Atlantic right whale.

While it is rare for the Navy to get so directly involved in transporting marine animals, Freeman said that such collaborations further one of the goals of the Oceanographer of the Navy, which is to educate the public about the ocean and raise the level of ocean literacy of the American public.