Marine biologists in New Zealand received a rare opportunity on Tuesday when a colossal squid, found in Antarctica and kept frozen for the past eight months, was defrosted for scientific examination.

According to the Associated Press, the squid was captured in the remote Ross Sea of Antarctica by Capt. John Bennett and his fishing crew on the San Aspiring toothfish boat. The squid, weighing in at 350 kilograms (or 770 pounds), was then frozen for eight months before being thawed for a long-anticipated inspection by scientists on Tuesday.

Amazingly, this not the first giant squid hauled in by Bennett and his crew. After their first capture seven years ago, the crew decided to save their most recent catch for research. “It was partly alive, it was still hanging on to the fish,” Bennett said. “They’re huge, and the mantle’s all filled with water. It’s quite an awesome sight.”

The squid was examined at Te Papa, New Zealand’s national museum, by researchers from the Auckland University of Technology and the University of Otago, according to the New Zealand Herald. They discovered that the squid was female, had eyes 35 centimeters across, and had appendages all measuring slightly over 100 centimeters.

“This is essentially an intact specimen, which is an almost unparalleled opportunity for us to examine,” said Dr. Kat Bolstad, a marine biologist at the Auckland University of Technology and a member of the research team.

The researchers were not the only ones excited about the opportunity. USA Today reports that approximately 142,000 individuals from 180 countries followed along on Tuesday as well, watching live streaming footage of the squid examination online.

Susan Waugh, a senior curator at Te Papa, anticipates that the scientists will be able to identify much more than the physical aspects of the giant squid, such as how the animal lived and died, potential genetic variation among different squid types, and where the animal fits in the food chain.

The research team decided to take only small samples of the giant squid in hopes of preserving the animal for future display.