A 330-pound giant squid was found off the Japanese Island Sadogashima on Wednesday, after a fisherman accidentally caught the fabled sea creature in his net.
The male squid, which measured 12 feet in length, died after the ship's crew hauled its massive body onto the deck, according to a report by the Japan Times.
A video shot after the elusive creature was captured depicts a team of scientists measuring and inspecting the carcass of the cephalopod, which was found about 300 feet beneath the water's surface.
The Japan Times reported that fisherman Shigenori Goto made the inadvertent capture while he was out catching buri yellowtail.
The squid was transported to the Fisheries Ocean Research Institute in Niigata Prefecture for further study.
The discovery of this giant squid was a momentous one, as most other Architeuthis Dux findings are - despite the fact that these cephalopods are the largest invertebrates on the planet, they're extremely evasive. Giant squids often live in the deep sea, with communities dwelling at depths between 1,000 and 3,000 feet below. It's an exceptional event to find the remains of a giant squid, let alone an entire body.
Only a few museums currently have giant squids on display, including the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
