Rare giant squid with ‘largest eye of any animal’ washes up on South African beach

The extraordinary beast washed up dead on the rocks of a South African beach

A giant squid washed up on the shore of Scarborough Beach in South Africa’s Western Cape.

Video and images show the beast dead on the rocks as a marine biologist moves the stretchy flesh and tentacles to reveal its sharp, black beak.

Tim Dee, an author from Bristol, UK, was birdwatching in the area and decided to go see the dead cephalopod after it was posted on a local community group earlier that day.

A marine biologist is seen moving the squid’s tentacles and arms to reveal its beak, which is comparable to one of a parrot’s due to its shape.

The beak is used by the animal to bite fish and ingest prey and other food when it’s deep-water hunting.

Dee said: “I am a birdwatcher and always looking at the beach and shore here at Scarborough.

“We’re only a few miles north of the Cape of Good Hope - the southwestern most point of Africa.

“All sorts of oceanic oddities turn up, dead and alive.”

(Tim Dee / SWNS)

The giant squid was first found by dog-walkers early in the morning.

Dee explained: “They posted a picture on a village wildlife message board we share, I hurried there as soon as I heard.”

“It was an amazing ghost creature: I knew they have hardly ever been seen alive, and I knew that they lived far out in very deep water.

“I knew that they had the largest eye of any animal.

“And I knew that this one was not seeing anything anymore even as it looked up at the sky of Scarborough.

“And then to see the squid’s arms and tentacles and that strange mouth being articulated was strangest of all.

“The movie Alien came to mind - those nested teeth in the centre of the monster’s head and here was that alien on the beach just beyond the bottom of my garden.

“There was a pilgrimage to the stranded animal all through yesterday; the IZIKO museum in Cape Town came and took samples for its Marine Invertebrates collection.”