After Googling the creature known as architeuthis dux in Latin, Davies realised a giant squid washing up on a beach in South Africa was a rare occurrence and a "once-in-a-lifetime sighting".
According to Dr Wayne Florence, a marine biologist and curator of marine invertebrates for the Iziko Museums of South Africa, giant squid were found at depths of 300 to 1 000m in all the world's oceans, except at the poles.
Iziko acquired the giant squid to add to its extensive natural science history collection documenting South Africa's biodiversity.
Surprisingly, despite our museum being almost 200 years old, our earliest stranded giant squid specimen is from 1972," he told News24.
"Since this giant squid is just over 4m in total length, based on expert opinion of other larger specimens, this beast was probably less than two years old," Florence said.
