Centro del Calamar Gigante

Centro del Calamar Gigante, also known as Centro de Interpretación del Calamar Gigante, was a natural history museum in Luarca, Asturias, Spain, dedicated to the giant squid (Architeuthis dux). It was administered by Coordinadora para el Estudio y la Protección de las Especies Marinas (CEPESMA) and held the association's cephalopod collections together with other marine exhibits.[5]

Centro del Calamar Gigante
Location in Asturias
EstablishedAugust 2010[1]
LocationPaseo del Muelle 25, Luarca, Asturias, Spain[2]
Coordinates43.5479°N 6.5340°W / 43.5479; -6.5340
Visitors26,000 annually[3]
DirectorLuis Laria[4]
WebsiteOfficial website

The museum officially opened its doors to the public on 13 August 2010.[1] It was visited by 14,000 people in its first three months.[6] The museum building, which has 908.75 square metres of floorspace and a 66.25-square-metre patio, was built at a cost of €1,260,000.[1] The exterior is clad in grey quartzite at ground level, and aluminium composite on the upper two floors.[1]

In November 2010 the museum had to close temporarily after being seriously damaged by a storm, the damage amounting to more than €140,000.[6] The problem was compounded by CEPESMA's financial situation at the time, with the association unable to fund its activities and having to lay off staff.[7] Plans were drawn up for a concrete wall that would protect the museum from future wave damage[7] at a cost of €573,000.[8] The museum reopened on 21 April 2011 after a little over two weeks of repair work to the ground floor and access area.[8] The museum received 1,670 visitors in its first four days after reopening.[9]

Centro del Calamar Gigante previously held the world's largest collection of giant squid, but many of the museum's specimens were destroyed during a storm on 2 February 2014.[10][11][12][nb 1] One of the specimens that survived the storm was a giant squid caught off Gandia in July 2005 – the first male recorded from the Mediterranean Sea.[14] A few days after the storm the museum was broken into at night and vandalised.[4][15][16] As of April 2014 the museum remains closed until further notice.[5]

Notes
  1. Sources differ as to the number of giant squid specimens held by the museum prior to its destruction, with numbers ranging from 14[10] to as many as 31.[13] The number lost in the storm of February 2014 has been variously reported as 4[10] or 11.[14]
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gollark: I doubt anyone but governments has agreed to it.
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gollark: Someone would probably stop you patenting-or-whatever existing natural things, but I'm sure you can patent your own stuff.
gollark: Probably!

References
  1. El Centro de Interpretación del Calamar Gigante de Luarca abre sus puertas. El Comercio, 13 August 2010. (in Spanish)
  2. C.I. Calamar Gigante. Equalitas Vitae. (in Spanish)
  3. Guerra, Á. (2014). Carta del Dr. Angel Guerra, del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. CEPESMA, 6 February 2014. (in Spanish)
  4. Álvarez, L. (2014). Luis Laria: "Alguien disfrutó de lo lindo arrasando lo que quedaba en el Museo del Calamar". El Comercio, 10 February 2014. (in Spanish)
  5. Centro del Calamar Gigante. CEPESMA. (in Spanish)
  6. El Cepesma urge al Principado a que repare el Centro del Calamar Gigante. El Comercio, 7 December 2010. (in Spanish)
  7. Cepesma asegura que 200 animales corren peligro por falta de fondos. El Comercio, 9 December 2010. (in Spanish)
  8. Luarca abre hoy el Museo del Calamar Gigante. El Comercio, 21 April 2011. (in Spanish)
  9. El Museo del Calamar Gigante de Luarca reanuda su actividad por todo lo alto. CEPESMA, 27 April 2011. (in Spanish)
  10. Une tempête détruit «la plus grande collection» de calamars géants au monde. Agence France-Presse, 3 February 2014. (in French)
  11. Vázquez, V.M. (2014). Asturias por Cepesma. CEPESMA, 10 February 2014. (in Spanish)
  12. Sin palabras. CEPESMA, 4 February 2014. (in Spanish)
  13. Llega a la costa asturiana el cadáver de un calamar gigante de 80 kilos. ABC.es, 17 August 2013. (in Spanish)
  14. El calamar gigante de Gandia se salva del temporal del Cantábrico. Levante-EMV, 4 February 2014. (in Spanish)
  15. Linares, M.G. (2014). Vandalismo y vendavales. La Nueva España, 14 February 2014. (in Spanish)
  16. Ataque vandálico al Museo del Calamar Gigante. CEPESMA, 10 February 2014. (in Spanish)
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