Scientists at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa dissected an enormous squid -- and broadcast the entire process live online.
The colossal squid, a species native to waters near Antarctica, is one of the largest squids on Earth, according Kat Bolstad, a marine biologist with the Auckland University of Technology.
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Fishermen caught the squid, whose eight arms are each more than a meter long, in the Ross Sea last year. It provides a rare opportunity for scientists to examine "an intact specimen," Bolstad said.
The fisherman caught two colossal squid, the first of which is on display at Te Papa, The Guardian reported. Scientists froze the second squid for preservation until they had a chance to study it in more detail, according to the BBC.
The 13- to 16-foot female weighs in at 770 pounds, and one of its eyes is 14 inches in diameter, Agence France-Presse reported. It has three hearts — a primary one to pump blood around the body and a matching set for its gills.
Scientists even recovered eggs from the specimen. Radio New Zealand reported that the team took tissue samples, which they plan to use to sequence the whole colossal squid genome.
According to Te Papa’s Twitter account, more than 370,000 people tuned in to watch the broadcast, which ran for three-and-a-half hours.
Wow - 370,000+ people have tuned into #squidwatch so far! If you missed it yesterday, a recording's available now: http://t.co/ZzVYk6DEvI
— Te Papa (@Te_Papa) September 16, 2014
If you missed it, you can see the whole thing in the video below.