By Zain Haidar May 15 2015 12:00 AM EDT weather.com

00:48 Giant Squid Found on New Zealand Beach Take a look at what washed up on the shores of New Zealand. Here's Matt Sampson.

It's the size of a school bus, dead and frozen.

Scientists with New Zealand's Kaikoura Marine Centre and Aquarium were stunned to find a 23-feet-long giant squid washed ashore on the country's South Island on Wednesday.

The Marlborough Express reports that the dead giant squid is now on display in a freezer at the aquarium, and scientists are studying the specimen.

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According to Megan Lewis, the aquarium's owner, the giant squid was a fully-grown female, but the scientists aren't sure how old it was exactly and how it died.

"They tend to grow very fast and live not very long," Lewis said.

Giant squid typically grow to 33 feet long, but the largest specimen discovered was 59 feet long , according to National Geographic.

"The majority of its weight is in the head, which is in pristine condition," Lewis said.

The aquarium will make tissue samples from the squid available to researchers, but the entire specimen will stay at the center for now.

Giant squid prefer to swim in warm waters, as the Japan Times reports, and this pursuit could have led the squid to get caught near the surface and beach .

As ABC News reports, a giant squid washed ashore in New Zealand two years ago after it died in a struggle with a larger giant squid.

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