Operation squid

By ROBIN BAILEY

Steve O'Shea is a scientist whose work hunting the giant squid is well-known around the world, but largely unheard of at home. That situation is about to change.

With his research assistant Kat Bolstad, O'Shea will be at the Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show, demonstrating what the squid business is all about. And he will have one of the huge creatures (dead) as part of his presentation.

Also included in the display will be aquariums filled with all manner of marine creatures and a filmed presentation covering the five expeditions O'Shea has undertaken for the American Discovery Channel.

Programmes such as Chasing Giants: On the Trail of the Giant Squid have brought his work to a huge international audience. It told the story of the struggle to identify, locate, capture and grow the larvae of Architeuthis dux, the giant squid. Unfortunately, the 17 larval giant squid caught died aboard the research ship.

Now there is another expedition planned for January and O'Shea and Bolstad are using the Boat Show to bring their project to the attention of a marine-friendly audience they and the show organisers believe will be interested in this New Zealand-driven exercise.

The pair are based at the Auckland University of Technology's Earth and Oceanic Sciences Research Institute.

O'Shea has returned to teaching after working as a marine scientist with Niwa (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research) and Bolstad is completing her PhD on the systematics and culture of squid.

O'Shea says that although the Discovery Channel remains committed to the repeat expedition in January, he and Bolstad need to prove they can keep the larvae alive.

"We have two objectives for the immediate future," he said. "By November 2003 to capture the larvae of pelagic oceanic squid and keep them alive for more than 100 days and by February 2004 to again capture the larval giant squid and successfully on-grow them. I am confident we can meet both these objectives.

"Our dream is to rear giant squid in captivity. We know we can do it and believe that the 2004 expedition will make our dream a reality."

The Boat Show squid display will provide a promotional platform for some of the companies and organisations supporting the project and the non-profit Cephalopod Charitable Research Trust O'Shea formed to enable his work on squid to continue and to promote conservation of the New Zealand Marine environment. The trust will also award student research scholarships and assist in the production of educational media projects.

One of the squid project's immediate problems has been solved by the boat show's southernmost exhibitor. The Invercargill aluminium boat manufacturer Stabi-Craft has brokered a deal that will set the O'Shea team afloat to hunt squid larvae from a specially adapted 6m hard-top. The company is an appropriate partner in the project because part of their work will be done in Foveaux Strait as well as the northern part of New Zealand, Hawkes Bay and Cook Strait.

The Boat Show display will include film from the Discovery Channel (US and Australia), Sky Television, the AUT, Jansen Aquariums and the Department of Conservation. The star attraction will be the giant squid on loan from the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa.

O'Shea and Bolstad will be giving short, film-backed presentations to explain the plans and detailing the 2004 quest for the giant squid. The show runs from May 29 to June 2.