Giant squid prepares to eat luckless sailor

This is my favorite illustration.

Box-o-squid

Five pounds of whole squid is approximately 30 individuals.

First squid

These were not giant squid. In fact, they were rather tiny. More tender, but less ink-ful, than their larger brethren.

Ink sack

Squid have a main ink sack among their viscera. It is tricky to remove it without squirting ink everywhere. Probably one big reason that it is hard to buy whole squid anymore---most folks would rather get them pre-cleaned.

Eyebal ink

Squid also have ink deposits behind each eye. Their eyes are enormous.

Ink harvest

I ended up with a fair volume of slimy goo, eyeballs, and ink sacks. I mashed them up with a fork. The result was not as black as expected, probably because I got too much squid goo into the mix instead of just pure ink.

Dissection

I separated all the tentacly parts (head and legs) from the body tubes.

Writing

Leaving the fins attached, I slit some body tubes to expose the white inner surface. Because the squid ink was too viscous to write letters, I used normal liquid ink to inscribe words onto the squid bodies.

Quotes from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

‘I will never be able to believe in the existence of such animals.’ 'I have resolved to admit the existence of such monsters only after I have dissected them with my own hand.’ 'Hey, who the hell has ever believed in them?’ ‘I can perfectly remember seeing a large ship being dragged under the waves by the arms of a cephalopod.’

Illustrations

The squid ink was lovely for making illustrations of a giant cephalopod destroying a ship and capturing a crew member.

Binding

I pierced a fin on each of the nine pages and threaded the two longest tentacles (the feeding arms) through the holes. Then I looped the feeding arms through the middle of the tentacle ring, through the hole produced by removing the eyeballs and head. The result was a rather damp book with smudgy pages, but a certain tang of authenticity.

Extra parts

To finish, I stir fried the extra parts, segregating tentacles and body tubes, since they require different cooking times.