If you’re in the French capital, you might want to make a visit to the National Museum of History. Hanging from the ceiling is a 6.5 meter (21.5 foot) long giant squid, perfectly preserved by way of plastination. The method for preserving cadavers first used by controversial German anatomist Gunther von Hagens, involves replacing all natural liquids with polymer.
Paris’ giant squid has been named Wheke, after the great sea monster of Maori mythology who was said to have led the Polynesians across the ocean to discover New Zealand. Wheke originally measured 9 meters when he was caught, but shrunk during the plastination process. The whole thing took two and a half years and cost 65,000 euros ($100,000). Seems like a good enough reason to get to the National Museum of History to me.