[The Past and present of La Salle County, Illinois : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, portraits of early settlers and prominent men, general and local statistics, map of La Salle County, history of Illinois, Constitution of the United States, miscellaneous matters, etc, etc..
The great auk was 75 to 85 centimetres (30 to 33 in) tall and weighed around 5 kilograms (11 lb) The size of a medium penguin, it lived in the open ocean except for when it waddled ashore for breeding on just a few islands.
There is no question the squid shrunk after months of storage upon capture, but now the measurements only reflect its size upon validated scientific examination. According to the Canadian Shark Research Center, the world's largest accurately measured great white was 20 feet in length. This was a female caught in 1988 at Canada's Prince Edward Island. Local fisherman David McKendrick landed the toothy catch.