Steve O'Shea, a marine biologist who is part of an international team looking at the creature, said he could tell from the creature's beak that it was not yet fully grown. "Perhaps the colossal squid gets up to 750 kilograms. That is certainly not the largest specimen out there," he said.

Only 75 colossal squid have ever been recovered, but the one found last February is the best preserved and most intact. Scientists have had to take great care to thaw the creature. The squid's huge bulk would have taken days to defrost naturally, leaving the outside to rot while the inside remained frozen.

The creature is being gradually thawed in a tank filled with salty water. Because salt water freezes at a lower temperature than fresh water, it will allow the freshwater ice block around the creature to melt, while the surrounding liquid is kept at about 0 degrees. Scientists were disappointed to learn this morning that the creature was taking longer to thaw than hoped, meaning they've so far been unable to take detailed measurements or determine its gender.

But an initial examination had still yielded a lot of useful information, Dr O'Shea said. "In 2003, when we had the first specimen, we didn't have any eyes. When we put a certain gadget in the water here we saw two of the most sensational eyes and they are both perfect. That is a highlight. That is probably the best thing so far," Dr O'Shea said. The eyes of the colossal squid are the largest known in the animal kingdom, and those examined today were about 27 centimetres in diameter, although only about 10 centimetres are visible from the outside.

Mark Fenwick, a technician at Wellington's Te Papa Tongarewa Museum where the squid will be housed, admitted that scientists had yesterday snacked on part of another colossal squid being examined today. "It was almost like a tua tua, you know a cockle. It was very nice. It left a real taste in your mouth and stayed for quite a while," he said.

"It was very much like [sashimi]. This is a gourmet meal. I don't know anyone else who has eaten Mesonychoteuthis." Dr O'Shea said eating the squid was one way to determine whether the colossal type had ammonia in its system, as the giant squid does. "The interesting thing about it is that it was non-ammoniacal. It tasted good, apparently," he said.

AAP