Giant Squid at Auckland Museum
Auckland Museum is the scene of the crime this summer.
The museum’s latest special exhibition The Poisoners calls on visitors to figure out who killed Professor Felix Splicer and which deadly insect, lethal animal or poisonous plant was used as the weapon - the museum's Natural History collection has never looked so dangerous.
Also on display in one of the four suspects' lairs is AUT's plastinated giant squid, an incredible specimen which was filled with silicon to preserve its form.
Dr Kat Bolstad, researcher at AUT’s Earth and Oceanic Sciences Research Institute and resident squid expert, says the exhibition is great opportunity to showcase the giant squid to museum visitors. She will also be taking part in the museum series ‘The Expert Sessions’ where she will discuss the giant squid and other cephalopod research.
Kat's research field is in the systematics and ecology of cephalopods. Her doctoral research consisted of a global revision of the systematics of the then poorly known hooked-squids of the family Onychoteuthidae.
She is currently investigating other squid families, including the systematics of southern ocean representatives of the squid family Brachioteuthidae.
The Poisoners opens at Auckland Museum on December 16. Tickets are $5.