Britons scoop monster squid from Antarctic LONDON, July 3 (Reuters) - A British biologist thanked fate on Monday for the body of a rarely caught giant squid that washed up outside her remote Antarctic base just hours before she left the outpost for home. Biologist Amanda Lynnes said the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) team were waiting for their ship on the last day of the Antarctic summer in April when she spotted something strange on the beach outside their tiny Signy island research station. ``I saw a flock of birds squabbling over something. I went out and I saw its arms and suckers bobbing near the surface,'' Lynnes told Reuters ``I was amazed at the size of the squid and needed help from a colleague to lift it into a sack to weigh and measure it. It must have been fate to find it on the last day.'' The two-metre (nearly seven feet) long, 63-pound (28 kg) example of Kondakovia longimana was the longest ever found and was in good condition when Lynnes hauled it out of the freezing Antarctic waters. ``It still had one eye intact before the birds got at it. It (the eye) was about the size of the palm of my hand and like mother of pearl. ``I was amazed to see it and I knew straight away it was special,'' Lynnes said. The small scientific research team left the island hours later, but will return to Signy island in October to continue research on samples taken from the beast. Paul Rodhouse, squid biologist at the BAS, said he had identified the eight-armed creature, which has hooks on the end of its two tentacles to help catch fish. ``This is 20 to 25 percent bigger than any other example we've found of this species...they're so fast and hard to catch that we need to make the most of this find,'' he said. Lynnes will present a paper on her find at Aberdeen University in Scotland later this week. 11:12 07-03-00 Copyright 2000 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.