The squid has been stitched as much as we can – Steve describes
it as trying to sew two blocks of butter together. As we re-fill
the tank with the glycol mixture we are placing bags filled with
water to spread the mantle out and give it some support. Being
able to view the specimen head on gives us an idea of what
meeting one of these guys would be like! And at the centre of
those tentacles is the beak . . . . The pale vertical stripe at
the outer edge of the eye is a light organ – all the better to
see you with! The light organ is at the rear edge of the eye. It
would be concealed by skin as the eyeball revolved when the
squid was looking out sideways (thus hiding the light from
predators or prey). As the eyes turn inward to focus directly in
front of the arms and tentacles, the light organs would be
exposed and provide enough light for the squid to see its prey
in the darkness. Then using binocular vision it would be able to
accurately judge the distance the tentacles need to move to
strike and seize any ha