was found floating off the North Shore.

Bermuda Aquarium, Museum & Zoo Collections Manager Lisa Greene saw it floating in the water off the North Shore in St. George's.

Now a squid specialist from the Smithsonian Institute has been called in to help identify the squid.

"Unfortunately there is a lot of the squid missing which is why it can't be identified immediately,'' Ms Greene said. "What we do have seems to be in pretty good shape.'' The squid remains seem to be a large piece of the main body and a portion of the head, she continued.

The eyes and tentacles are missing.

"It's apparent that something, perhaps a shark, has taken large bites from it,'' she said.

Ms Greene suspects that the squid got caught and was weakened or killed by the storms that have been hitting the Island these last few weeks.

Photographs, measurements and tissue samples of the squid have been taken, but further study has been put on hold until squid expert Dr. Clyde Roper of the Smithsonian Institute arrives.

It is hoped that when he comes, Dr. Roper will study the squid and be able to identify its type.

Also, the Aquarium hopes that he will be able to perform a dissection of the squid to study the internal organs and determine its sex and age.

But it is not known exactly when Dr. Roper is to arrive on the Island. Until then the squid is going to be kept on ice.