A giant squid surprised the residents of Cantabria, Spain when it washed up on shore Tuesday.

The giant squid was just that. Weighing in at 400 pounds (180 kilograms) and measuring at 30 feet (9 meters), the animal was definitely a sight to be seen. Its massive, bulging eyes and oozing, tangled, blob-like tentacles definitely painted a more lifelike picture than the calamari most of us think of when we think about squid.

The squid is part of the Architeuthis dux species, the largest invertebrate in the world.

When ocean waves carried the squid to the shore of La Arena beach, Enrique Talledo, an underwater photographer, was nearby to witness - and photograph - the spectacle.

"The animal died at sea, and ocean currents brought it to the coast," Talledo told GrindTV in an email. "The squid was in good condition, except one [tentacle] had been broken."

According to El Diario Montañés, the squid was moved to the Maritime Museum of Cantabria. Experts will attempt to preserve the specimen. According to an El Diario Montañés interview with Gerardo Garcia Castrillo, Maritime Museum of Cantabria director, the museum currently has two similar specimens that are smaller than the giant squid in question.

"I felt privileged to be among a few," Talledo told LiveScience via e-mail. "These animals rarely can be seen because they live at great depths, and very few appear on the coast dead."

Upon delivery to the museum, the squid (who was already dead) was cleaned and freezed. Meanwhile, the Spanish government and museum scientists will decide who is entitled to ownership of the massive carcass, GrindTV reports.

Watch footage of the giant squid's day at the beach below:

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